Website Colors That Turn Off Your Customers
Using too many colors or the wrong combination of colors on your
website could alienate or turn off customers completely. Out of
any form of non-verbal communication, color is the quickest way
to communicate a message and meaning. And, marketers spend
oodles of time and money determining the colors to best market
their product: the colors that will prove the highest amount of
return on investment.
Choose Colors with Care
The right colors can mean bigger profits for your website. You
may even want to hire a professional web designer to help you.
Make sure the web designer you hire is not just a programmer,
but also a graphic designer and/or marketer. After all, the
reason why 99% of all websites fail is because it was created by
a technician, rather than a marketing expert.
So, What Colors are Best for Your Website?
That is hard to say. Again, you may want to hire a professional
to help you. However, the following tips will help you
understand the underlying meaning behind color so you may be
guided to make the right choice. Keep in mind that depending on
its value or intensity, one color can give very different
emotions.
Red - Stimulating. Exciting. Energizing. Appetizing. When you
eye sees red, chemical responses in your body cause your blood
pressure, pulse rate, and adrenaline to increase. Fire engine
red is more energetic than a more traditional burgundy.
Pink - Happy. Romantic. Spirited. Youthful. Best used for less
expensive and trendy products. Vibrant pinks are common in the
cosmetic industry. Bubble gum pink can be considered immature,
but fuchsia or magenta are considered more sophisticated.
Orange - Friendly. Adventurous. Energizing. Inviting. Of all the
colors, orange is the hottest. Similar to red's arousing effect,
orange is often associated with bright sunsets or fall foliage.
Orange contains the drama of red with the cheeriness of yellow.
Neon orange tends to be load and is the most disliked color, but
a more tempered vivid orange is highly effective for
point-of-purchase graphics and specials.
Yellow - Warm. Sunny. Cheerful. Vibrant. Yellow is equivalent to
enlightenment and imagination. This color is especially
effective for food service industries because of the association
to bananas, custards and lemons. Pale yellow is an excellent
choice for point-of-purchase materials (materials at the cash
register or reception area) because the eye sees the highly
reflective yellow before it notices any other color.
Brown - Rich. Sheltering. Durable. Sensible. Brown is an earth
tone and is related to the earth's nurturing qualities and
stability. Generally speaking, brown provokes a positive
response, but the wrong shade could lead to customers relating
it to dirty, which could be detrimental for a product in the
fashion industry, for example. Brown works well with food
products since customers also relate it to root beer, coffee and
chocolate.
Blue - Cool. Trusting. Serene. Consistent. Similar to the earthy
color brown, blue is related to the sky and water, both
dependable constants in our lives. Blue is an ideal color for
websites, especially e-commerce websites. Many banks and
financial institutions use blue in their marketing because it
makes customers feel more trusting. Blue also can generate a
cold, distant, corporate feeling, the opposite of generating a
personal relationship with the customer. Green - Refreshing.
Healing. Fresh. Soothing. Green offers the most variety of
choices out of all the colors of the rainbow. Green works well
for personal hygiene or beauty products because of its soothing
and flattering tones. Most people link green to nature; they
think of foliage or grass. Mint green is seen as fresh while
bright greens are associated with grass. Emerald greens are
elegant and deep greens are linked to money and prestige. Green
is also combined nicely with many other colors and can also work
as a neutral.
Purple - Elegant. Sensual. Regal. Mysterious. Purple is seen as
sensual and spiritual as it combines the sexuality of red and
the sereneness of blue. It is best used with creative products,
new products, or cutting edge products. Deep purple is
associated with regal sophistication and lavender has a more
subtle nostalgic appeal.
Neutrals - Classic. Quality. Natural. Timeless. The neutral
tones of beige, gray and taupe emulate the psychological message
of dependability and timelessness. They are regarded as safe and
non-offensive and will not go out-of-date as they are always in
style.
White - Pure. Bright. Pristine. Simple. While white can signify
clean elegance, it can also be considered generic and stark,
unless you have stylish graphics to compliment the white.
Black - Strong. Classic. Mysterious. Powerful. Black is most
closely associated with the night. Black is seen as powerful,
dramatic, elegant and expensive. In food packaging, a customer
will actually pay more for a gourmet image. Although black is
associated with mourning, its positive associations far outweigh
its negative. Warning: too much black can be overkill.