One of the criteria for assessing your IELTS essay is cohesion and coherence.

 
Coherence refers to the linking of ideas in a logical sequence or order.  Cohesion refers to
the organization of sentences and ideas in your essay working together as a whole within
their paragraphs.  They hold together by cohesive devices (transitional words and
expressions). This makes it very easy for the reader to follow your presentation of  information in the
essay. They don’t get lost or confused. Did you write in clear paragraphs that are organized around
central ideas? It’s like listening to a story that’s smooth and easy to follow.

Here are some useful transitional/linking words and phrases to use to show the different
relationships between your ideas and sentences:

ADDITION:
 also, again, in addition, additionally, furthermore, further, moreover, as well as, what’s
more, besides this/that,
CONTRAST (show two things are different):
 on the other hand, however, despite this, conversely, in contrast, on the contrary,
although, while, though, compared with, in comparison with, rather, whereas, but, instead of, in
spite of, still, nevertheless, regardless, otherwise
COMPARE (show two things are similar/alike):
 likewise, similarly, also, in the same way, in comparison to
SEQUENCE:
 first, second (etc.), to begin with, initially, at first, then, next, from there, and then,
following this, finally, lastly
EXAMPLES:
 for example, for instance, a good example of this is, such as, to illustrate, in particular,
particularly, namely, specifically
CONSEQUENCE:
 therefore, as a result, thus, so, consequently, admittedly, so that, depending on
EMPHASIS/CERTAINTY:
 indeed, certainly, in fact, of course, undoubtedly, plainly, obviously
CONDITION:
 if. . . then, unless, whether, provided that,
SUMMARY:
 in summary, in conclusion, overall, in short,  in brief, to sum up, in other words, all in all,
to put it differently, to summarize, on the whole,
REASON:
 because, since, as, so, due to, owing to, the reason why
CONCESSION (accepting/acknowledging something is true):
 granted, naturally, of course

This is not a complete list and of course, many words can link ideas in different ways depending on
how they are used.

*NOTE: It’s important to not overuse so many linking words in your essays because it makes it
even more difficult to read, rather than making it smooth and easy to read. So choose a few carefully
when you write and make sure you don’t overuse these phrases.
Cohesive devices, sometimes called linking words, linkers, connectors,
discourse markers or transitional words, are one of the most misunderstood
and misused parts of IELTS Writing.

Cohesive devices are words like ‘For example‘, ‘In conclusion‘, ‘however‘
and ‘moreover‘. Together with coherence, cohesion provides 25% of your
marks in both parts of the Writing test. However, most students have not been
taught how to use them effectively.

This post will look at how and, more importantly, when we should use them.
What are cohesive devices?
Cohesive devices tell the reader what we are doing in a sentence and help to
guide them through our writing. They signal to the reader what the
relationships are between the different clauses, sentences and paragraphs.