How do I use emphasis and strong importance in HTML text?

Ask what the words mean in context, rather than what you want them to look like. Use <em> when stress on a word or phrase changes the sentence’s meaning or reading. Use <strong> when the content itself has greater importance, seriousness, or urgency—for example, a warning. [S1] [S2]

Their usual italic and bold appearances are just typical browser rendering; they are not the reason to choose the elements. If you only want text to appear italic or bold, use CSS for that styling instead. [S1] [S2]

Consider the sentence “I asked you to save the draft.” If the point is that you asked someone to save it, stress “you”:

Before: <p>I asked you to save the draft.</p>

After: <p>I asked <em>you</em> to save the draft.</p>

Here, the emphasis changes which part of the sentence receives stress. That is the kind of meaning <em> conveys. [S1]

Now consider a notice that a form must be submitted by a stated deadline:

Before: <p>Submit the form by Friday.</p>

After: <p><strong>Submit the form by Friday.</strong></p>

The marked instruction is important, rather than merely being words you want to make bold. <strong> is appropriate for strong importance, seriousness, or urgency. [S2] The example assumes the surrounding page makes the deadline clear; the tag does not supply missing details.

You can use both when both meanings are genuinely present: the full warning is important, and one word needs stress. For example:

<p><strong>Do <em>not</em> share this draft.</strong></p>

Here, <strong> marks the warning’s importance; <em> stresses “not.” This is an illustrative example, so use it only if that warning matches your actual content. MDN says <em> may be nested to express greater emphasis. [S1] That does not mean every highlighted word needs nested emphasis, or that nesting should be used just to make text look stronger.

If the goal is appearance alone—such as italic text for a title—leave the semantic elements out and style the text with CSS. The elements describe emphasis or importance, not general-purpose visual decoration. [S1] [S2]

Review each marked phrase in its sentence and ask what meaning the tag communicates. If you cannot explain why a phrase is stressed or especially important, consider removing the tag and handling any purely visual preference with CSS. A practical review can look like this:

1. Find each <em> and <strong>.
2. Read the surrounding sentence and check whether the intended stress is clear.
3. Confirm <em> marks stress that affects the reading, not simply a wish for italics. [S1]
4. Confirm <strong> marks importance, seriousness, or urgency, not simply a wish for bold text. [S2]
5. Check that the wording explains the point; the tags alone do not establish facts, deadlines, or consequences.

These elements indicate the meanings described above; the guidance does not establish that any particular page is accessible, correctly designed, or appropriate for every use. Review the actual content and its purpose as well as the markup.