Choosing an appropriate colour combination in the website design process is considered one of the most important (yet often overlooked) elements in creating a successful website. Psychologists have revealed that people are susceptible on a subconscious level to colour impressions and that over 60% of acceptance or rejection of a website is tied to this very fact.

Choice of colour has the ability to generate a positive impact to the visitor and as a result, make the visitor stay longer. We all know – the longer the visitor stays the more the chance of enticing him/her to take action on the end website goal. Here is a list of things that we consider important in determining the colours that can influence your visitors in a positive way.

Determine the product service you are selling.

If you are selling environmental or ‘green’ products, it would not be appropriate to use colours like red or orange. Instead, you would want to use greens, and/or earth tones. Choose a colour that matches the product or service that you are offering.

Focus on the target audience.

When deciding on the appropriate colour for a website, you should consider the target audience. The colour used for a product-focused on the elderly may not fare well with teens or younger generations. Also, over the use of extremely bright colours like red, yellow, blue etc, causes eye fatigue and could drive a visitor away.

Background colour.

We often find it helpful to have a different colour background. By doing this, it punches the body of the website page forward and keeps the focus on the website itself.

Make your text black.

When it comes to reading text, people are used to reading black text. It is the easiest on the eye. There is no need to stray from what people have grown up using.

As stated earlier, it is important to relate your product / service to a colour relevant to your industry.

• Red attracts and empowers and suits websites that focus on children’s products and also motivates a visitor to take action with a “Book now” and/or “Reserve now”. Red invokes emotion.
• We use orange in websites that promote food products. It is known to promote positive thinking and increase creativity. The colour also appeals to the younger generation. Many technical companies use Orange.
• Yellow signifies cheerfulness and creativity. It appeals to children and is used in sites that promote leisure products. However, yellow can tend to strain the eyes and most cases should use it as an accent color.
• Green is pleasing to the human eye and is apt for tourism sites and sites that relate to nature. The colour also symbolises prosperity and wealth. Green also invokes trust and is one of the most trendy/corporate colours.
• Blue has an incredibly high trust value and is known to relax the nervous system. It is a conservative color. It is suitable for sites offering high- tech products and also for diet products. Many people mistakenly use blue for text colour. This should be avoided as it is not a standard colour for the human eye to read with.
• Black is useful for sites that relate to photography and art.
• People use purple in religious sites and vacation sites.

Don’t make your website a rainbow.

A final note – the temptation with people starting out in web design is to use many colours. The most impactful websites are the ones that keep the use of colour to a minimum. As a rule, we recommend that your website employ the use of 2 – 3 colours at a maximum. Often the biggest statement your site can make is in its simplicity.

Would you like more help or advice on this? Made In Scotland can help. Get in touch today with our team of experts, we would love to work with you!