Have you ever gotten stuck choosing what colors to use on your website? And just how important is your website color palette anyway?
Experts believe that certain colors can have an impact on visitors to your site, so there is some Psychology at play there.
However it’s not likely that the colors you choose will make or break the success of your site, but having said that, certain colors could possibly sway a visitors buying mood.
So when you’re planning your website, it can’t hurt to give some thought to the colors you’ll use and try to fit the colors of your site to the mood and flavor of your site’s topic.
Here’s a quick run down of how the basic colors relate to mood, topics and emotions.
GREEN – Health, Nature and energy saving, and of course money.
RED – Red is an impulsive, powerful color. Often used in association with love, passion, romance. Can also indicate energy, danger, excitement, action and adventure.
BLUE – Calmness and serenity. Blue indicates professionalism and is most preferred by men. Often signifies trustworthiness, success. It also encourages productivity. It’s also been known to suppress the appetite.
ORANGE – Orange incites creativity. It can be aggressive and is used in celebration and excitement. Orange can also stimulate appetite. Also a good color for emphasizing a call to action.
PURPLE - Calming. Used in fantasy. Often implies royalty, passion, luxury and wisdom. Often seen when marketing anti-aging products. Purple extends a sense of spirituality and encourages creativity.
WHITE – Encourages mental clarity. Promotes simple and fresh. Implies happiness, brightness and peace. Used to describe clean. Encourages order and being clutter free.
YELLOW –Youth, playfulness and fun. Mentally stimulating and encourages communication.
PINK – A Feminine fashion color. Also used for romance. Often associated with infants and youth. Pink is a very soothing color and often used to calm aggressions.
BLACK – Decisive, mysterious, unwavering. Can stimulate a sense of possibility or potential.
BROWN – Gives off a feeling of stability and wholesomeness. Is used in connection with the earth and being natural. Gives a sense of being orderly.
GRAY – Associated with maturity, security, reliability. Also associated with loss or depression.
Another thing you can do is take take a look at other websites and examine the colors they’ve chosen. How do the colors affect your emotions, attitude and decisions about the website?
A few tips for when Using color on your website
- Be sure to use a high contrast between a page’s background and the text color.
- Pick 3 colors for your website and use them consistently throughout your site.
- Use Contrasting colors when attracting attention.
Resources for help choosing your website color palette:
- Help for choosing complementary color combinations: http://www.colorcombos.com/
- Hex color codes and coordination guide: http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/color_combinations.php3
- Color palette generator is a cool tool if you have an image and need to know the best colors to complement it.
http://jrm.cc/color-palette-generator/?image=rec%2Fgrass-tile.jpg&steps=3
How did you decide on the colors for your website?
You May Also Find These Interesting...
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: GeraldNitram
February 1, 2012 at 11:06 pm
I like what the color white signifies. Your blog’s background is white, and it did give me the impression that your site is really neat and organized, and you deliver fresh content in a simple way. That’s how a lot of readers would like it: short and simple.
Hey Gerald, you’re very perceptive. I do try to deliver content in a fresh and simple way and thank you for your kind feedback