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 (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.
--- Christie Turley is a web marketing expert and author
of the Not-So-Dumb Blond Internet Guides.
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