What's the difference between a <b> tag and a <strong> tag in HTML?
A quick dive into HTML standards
Published 5/20/2025
Have you ever wondered why there are two HTML tags that appear to do the same thing?
It's all about semantics.
<strong> is preferred when a word or phrase carries semantic importance, as
it signals emphasis to both search engines and screen readers, improving accessibility and potentially
influencing SEO context.
<b> can be used when you want bold text purely for stylistic purposes, without
conveying semantic importance. However, modern best practices (as of 2025) recommend using CSS
classes to apply bold styling instead.
If you intend to convey hierarchy or strong importance in your choice of HTML tags,
you should use <strong>. <strong> conveys semantic meaning
to screen readers and helps communicate importance to search engines through structured content.
If you intend merely to bold your text, use <b>. It has no direct impact
for SEO or screen readers, because it is considered purely stylistic. Better yet, use <span> paired with an appropriate CSS class targeting the font-weight property.
Modern best practices recommend using CSS and targeting the font-weight property to manage styling in a consistent and scalable way, instead of using <b>.
One example where you should choose <strong> over <b> would
be when providing a reader with a warning, or informing them of something urgent or serious –
like my note about using CSS classes above!
TLDR;
When you're trying to emphasize text because it carries semantic importance, use <strong>.
For situations when you don't want to draw special attention to text from a search engine or
screen reader, you can use <b> instead. However, the use of <b> is discouraged, in favor of using CSS to apply bold font weights instead.
Further Reading
There's now a second article about HTML tags; this time about when to use <i> vs <em>. Check it out here.