Don't Underline for Emphasis on the Web

When you're writing for the web, bold text and italicized text are the best ways to emphasize a few words at a time. Underlined text is associated with hyperlinks, and non-linked underlining creates unnecessary confusion when visitors encounter it on your website. Don't do this to your readers:

Big Announcement: Everyone needs to know about this very important announcement!

Is that a link on "Big Announcement"? The reader hovers over the words with the mouse, thinking, "I want to know more. Can I click here to get it?" Hmmm... no hand pointer... not clickable... It's definitely underlined, but it's not a link.

This only took a few seconds to figure out, but for a moment your reader was thinking more about the formatting than the message. Don't set your readers up for frustration. Reserve your use of underlining for hyperlinks, and remember that bold and italicized text are best for emphasizing your writing on the web.