If you need to emphasise words in your text, bold is your best option. It will make the words stand out without compromising their legibility. But don’t emphasise too much text, or it will lose impact.
Where you want some text to stand out, prefer bold for emphasis. Avoid:
Of all these options, bold best preserves the letter shape and maximises legibility. And all caps CAN SOUND LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING AT THE READER.
Where you want to emphasise text but no formatting is available (such as in text messaging or on social media), you can use asterisks around a word or phrase instead.
You will need to confirm the delivery address *before 4pm today* so we can deliver the item in tomorrow’s run.
Emphasis is best reserved for small pieces of text, such as:
Avoid bolding whole paragraphs of text. If a longer piece of text is important, consider other formatting options to highlight it, such as using shading or borders.
Also review the structure of the text to make sure that key information is placed early in a document. For example, a bolded paragraph late in a letter is often a sign that the structure of the text is burying key content. Review the structure rather than relying on emphasis to highlight the text.