One of the most severely underrated components of a website is its design – not just the interface and usability of the site, but the color scheme and visual elements.
You see, people respond to color and if you understand how and why they do, you can use it to your advantage.
That’s why it’s important to learn the meaning behind each color, how this can affect your website’s performance and what changes you can make to your site to take advantage of this knowledge.
When you understand how someone reacts to a color you can solicit a response. It’s like copywriting, but for a completely different part of the brain.
Take red, for example. You’ve probably seen red headlines, arrows, and buttons on sales pages before, but other than the fact that everyone else does it, do you know why?
It’s because red is one of the highest contrast colors you can use. It brings things to the foreground where the eye will catch them first.
While not all colors are as powerful as red, they all have their own meanings which can be used effectively in different situations.
Not everyone is a designer, so actually putting all of this information to use is a different animal entirely. That said there are quite a few things you can do to maximize the return you see on your investment when building a new site.
Not only by choosing the right colors for your website, but by ensuring you don’t use the wrong ones. You’ve probably visited sites before that just felt “wrong”, or sites that were uncomfortable to look at or you just felt rushed.
That’s what color choice can do to your site.
And it’s why it is so important to understand how these colors impact user behavior before choosing one that you think looks “cool”.
Here’s the color choice infographic to help you choose:
Please share your thoughts on the importance of color choice by leaving a comment below.
Thanks
Comments 21
Thank you Alex for this infographic
I wasn’t aware of this…
Will definitely put more attention to color from now on.
Author
Thanks Don,
And yes, color choice is an important aspect in marketing.
I agree with Don J, I will be giving this color thing more attention from now on. I usually just use colors that I think look great. But now I will reevaluate my color choices.
Thanks.
Author
You’re welcome Donna
I used to do the same and just picked out any color, but since I learned about this I’m more careful with the colors I choose for my websites.
And that’s why I wanted to share this information
Color and visual presentation is an important element in marketing. Thanks Alex for the reminder and awesome infographic.
Author
Yes they are Andy
Happy to hear that you liked the infographic
I already new that different colors had different meanings…but to have them all listed like this is great. No more searching around. I’ve bookmarked this page. THANKS!
Hi Alex,
This is really interesting and informative, thanks! I think, too, that it’s important to be consistent with how we colour things on our sites.
I was reading recently about how people can make subconscious connections between what they see and and an action.
So for example, if the links on your site are usually blue, then if you want your visitor to follow through on an instruction or suggestion, then it’s good to make the given sentence, word or phrase blue because subconsciously they’ll associate the colour with performing an action.
I’m sure that there’s so much more to this subject but it’s really fascinating and if we can tap into it, even just a little, then it’s sure to be of benefit.
Kind regards,
Glenn
Author
Hi Glenn
And yes – every time I see on a website or a email a blue word or phrase that is underline I feel the need to click on it 🙂
Hi Alex,
More great information. I already see that I need to change the colors on some of my sites.
I thank you for all this great info. I don’t where you find it all, but as long as you keep coming up with it, I will certainly use it.
Thanks again,
Herschel Lawhorn
I wouldn’t agree with ALL the infographic’s tidbits, as I have seen contradictory stats and presumptions elsewhere (I guess everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, LOL)
BUT,
all0in-all, this is one of THE most eye-candy looking infographics, ever!
(which serves them well as proof of concept and knowledge)
I would like to share it on my FB page if you agree, Alex?
Cheers,
Steve ✉ Master eMailSmith ✉ Lorenzo
Chief Editor # eMail Tips Daily Newsletter
Author
Hey Steve,
Of course you can share it on your FB page
Already done, Alex:
http://www.facebook.com/eMailTipsDaily
Looking forward to see you there, too… feel free to share more!
~Steve
I have often associated blue with “trust”, and red with “action”. Your infographic supplies your readers with valuable wisdom. Thank You Alex for your ongoing value added education.
I’ve seen other charts like this, but this is definitely one of the btter-looking ones. Good job!
Hi Alex,
How refreshing to see the power of colours being taken seriously.
I used to lecture and demonstrate the effects of colours on emotions when I ran live Hypnotherapy Courses in the late eighties and nineties. It was the part of the course on the use of colours in consulting rooms and what colours to wear to get clients to feel safe and comfortable. It was also around the time that Psychiatric wards and prison cells were being painted pink to calm the occupants.
In my demonstrations I would have my students sitting blindfolded (I used sleep masks) and I would play classical music in deliberately selected musical keys.
I would get feedback on their feelings and then shine a strong coloured light on the students.
It was then a case of changing the music and/or the colours and their emotions changed accordingly.
All musical keys have a colour counterpart and joining a colour with a piece of music in a certain key can effect emotions.
For example, playing Moonlight Sonata together with a green light produced feelings of tranquillity. But by just changing the colour to red would have students reporting feelings of anger and agitation. Remember, the students were blindfolded and therefore had no idea the colour had changed.
They were absolutely fascinating times and we all learned such a lot about the power of colours, not only to change moods, but also to heal.
Many years ago I wrote a short eBook on the power of colours and if I can find it on my old hard drives, I will throw your readers a free copy, if that would be ok?
Again, seeing the subject on your blog was a pleasant surprise, so thank you.
Regards,
Robert
Author
Hi Robert,
Very interesting results! And yes – the power of color is something not many people take into consideration
Your eBook would be a great share, of course it’s OK
Thanks
Alex
Hi Alex,
I have eventually found the colour e-Book I wrote some time ago and did a little tidying up in it so it is ready for your readers to download or view online:
http://www.trsc.info/colours/index.html (to view direct)
http://www.trsc.info/colours/colours.pdf (Right click and ‘save as’ to download)
Although it is not strictly Internet Marketing, I think they will find it interesting.
Best regards,
Robert
Author
Thanks for the GREAT share Robert!!
Alex,
I love working with color and graphics, so I can’t thank you enough for this chart (as well as all the fantastic information you keep providing). I read somewhere that orange buttons encourage visitors to click. That might make sense based on the chart.
Author
Yes it does – Orange is a great action driven color