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.