Strong vs. Bold: Meaning vs. Look

Both <strong> and <b> make text render bold by default, but they mean different things. <strong> marks text as important — content the reader genuinely should not miss, like a warning. <b> just makes text visually bold, with no claim about how important it is.

<p><strong>Warning:</strong> unsaved changes will be lost.</p>
<p>The report's <b>Q3 figures</b> are on page 4.</p>

This difference is invisible to the eye but not to assistive technology: a screen reader can announce <strong> text with added emphasis in its voice, and search engines may give slightly more weight to text marked as important. <b> carries none of that — it is purely a visual style.

A good rule of thumb: reach for <strong> when you would say the words louder if reading the page out loud — a warning, a key term, a critical instruction. Reach for <b> when you just want something to stand out visually, like a product name in a list, with no real urgency behind it.

What is the key difference between <strong> and <b>?

A screen reader treats <strong> text exactly the same as <b> text, since they look identical in a browser.

Use ____ when text is genuinely important, and reserve <b> for text that should just look bold with no real significance.