Winning Colours for Your Website

Did you know that visitors form their first impression about your Website within the first 10 seconds? And what is the purpose of color in a Website? What role does color play in a Website and how does it affect us? A Website helps to communicate through the use of colors. Colors can portray positive or negative feelings. Positive colors can attract customers and turn prospects into buyers. Negative colors can confuse visitors, hurt the credibility of your Website and drive away customers. Colors affect our mood and will have an effect on our visitors as well because certain colors bring up certain emotions in our brain. What emotions do certain colors bring up? Visitors respond psychologically to colors on your Website. Colors are either warm or cool. Warm colors such as orange, yellow and brown convey cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Cool colors such as green, blue and purple are peaceful and relaxing. How do I choose the right color? A good rule of thumb is to select colors based upon the type of effect you'd like to achieve. For example, if your audience consists of new mothers and you are selling baby clothes, use soft blues and pinks. The colors you choose should create an inviting feeling and add personality to your site. Using colors Once you have chosen the colors for your site, use the same colors throughout your site. Avoid using too many colors on your Website as this will make your site look busy and confusing. Limit your colors to 2-3 colors. A limited color palette can be very appealing and add a sophisticated feeling to your Website. Use light colors for backgrounds and darker colors for foreground text. Colors on your site should complement each other. Colors and their significance - Red indicates danger. It stimulates the mind and raises blood pressure. It conveys passion and excitement. Las Vegas is the city of red neon lights as it makes people gamble and take risks under the red lights. - Blue is associated with peace and relaxation. Blues complement cool and pastel colors. - Black is considered a heavy and depressing color. Use of black as the dominant color should be avoided. - Brown conveys stability, simplicity, and comfort. It can be considered a dull color as well. - Green is easy on the eye; it has a calming effect. It is popular in hospitals - Gray is a very conservative color and conveys practicality, reliability and responsibility. - Pink is considered a feminine color. - Purple conveys spirituality, royalty and mystery. - Orange is a warm color. Used in small amounts, it can make a site interesting and fun. - Yellow is an eye-catching color. Used in small amounts, it can be cheerful. - - White is the color of purity and cleanliness. Color Combinations Using bright red and bright blue on your Website is not a good idea! Trying to focus on both bright colors will strain the eye. A popular color combination on Websites is a blue-and-white combination or different shades of blue. Blue represents peace, calmness and stability. People trust Websites with blue color more. Your Website can make a visitor feel welcome, relaxed, comfortable and generate trust with the right use of colors - just like an inviting comfortable home! Use colors effectively to draw your customers in and entice them to buy your product or service. We've put together a web page on our Website showing some sample Website color combinations, feel free to borrow any of these color schemes for your own work.