What are some best practices for effectively using preg_replace() to modify specific parts of HTML content in PHP?

When using preg_replace() to modify specific parts of HTML content in PHP, it is important to use the correct regular expression pattern to target the desired elements accurately. Additionally, it is recommended to use the 'i' modifier for case-insensitive matching and the 's' modifier for matching across multiple lines. Finally, make sure to properly escape any special characters in the replacement string to avoid unintended consequences.

$html = '<div class="content">Hello, <span class="name">John</span>!</div>';
$modified_html = preg_replace('/<span class="name">(.*?)<\/span>/', '<strong>$1</strong>', $html);
echo $modified_html;