Is there a difference between the “strong” and “b” tags in SEO?

Video Highlights

Google Webmasters answer the following question:

“In terms of Search Engine Optimization, what is the difference between using “strong” and “b” tag to emphasize certain words of text? Based on user perspective, both the “strong” and “b” tags have the similar effects which are words in bold. Which tag do you recommend we use and in which circumstances?”

• When Google checks the “strong” and “b” tags in terms of site ranking, scoring, how they were indexed and the likes, they are treated the same way.
• There are similar tags such as the “EM”, “M” and “I” which stands for italics and these are likewise considered the same.
• Different tags that are used in Google could be used according to the user’s discretion and it would not matter in terms of site ranking results.
• The new HTML 5 feature used in SEO may have looked like it changed a lot of things including tags but the truth is that the mechanics stay the same in terms of tags significance and value.
• The technical difference of SEO tags “b” and “strong” is that the former talks about the presentation saying it should be bold while the latter is semantically saying the texts should be treated as strong.
• In reality and practice, every browser automatically makes the texts bold or strong even without the tags.

In order to get rank higher in Search Engine Results Page (SERP), you should:

• Do not get affected by the “strong” and “b” tag to emphasize certain words of text as it does not affect SEO.
• Focus more on the fundamental of SEO, which is quality content and quality backlinks.