Web Design

What Colors Should I Use For My Website?

Do the colors you use on your website matter?

Different colors can convey different meanings.  Here’s some things to consider and what colors could imply on your website. Here’s a list of different colors and what they can mean.

Yellow

Primary Use: Pay Attention

  • Yellow is often used to grab attention
  • Yellow can also be used to represent the warmth of the sun and summertime.
  • It can be very eye catching when used in combination with white or black.
  • Yellow should be used carefully and in moderation. It can suggest warning and it can be irritating.

Orange

Primary Meaning: Need to Act Now

  • Orange is hard to miss and can be used on call to action buttons
  • It is often used as a safety symbol and can be associate with hunting
  • Orange can be associated with fall and Halloween
  • Orange can also suggest fun and energy

Red

Primary Meaning: Urgent

  • Red can be a signal to stop or signal danger
  • Red is an aggressive color and can be associated with sports cars
  • Red is often associated with clearance sales
  • Combine red with black for a masculine feel or combine it with white and/or gold for a romantic feel

White

Primary Meaning: Clean and Fresh

  • White can be used to portray innocence or purity
  • Normally a primary color for website focused on weddings, healthcare, and spirituality
  • White creates a sense of cleanliness and

Pink

Primary Meaning: Feminine

  • Often used to market to women and young girls

Blue

Primary Meaning: Trust and Security

  • Blue is very commonly used by websites that want to evoke a sense of professionalism
  • Often used by websites associated with banks, businesses and medical organizations
  • Blue can be used to represent water – refreshing
  • Dark blue can symbolize “the blues”

Brown

Primary Meaning: earthiness

  • Brown can be a difficult color to work with because it can imply dirtiness
  • Some luxury fashion sites are able to use brown effectively

Black

Primary Meaning: Power

  • Black is often associated with luxury products
  • Black can also be associated with evil and death
  • Black combined with white is commonly used to imply choice

Green

Primary Meaning: Life

  • Green is easy for the eys to process
  • Green is associated with green plants and hence life
  • Green can also be associated with money
  • When using lots of green for something to do with finances, the use of green should be minimized to keep from the perception of greed and envy

Purple:

Primary Meaning: Wealth

  • Purple can be used for luxury brands
  • Purple is often seen in beauty products
  • Purple in combination with white or pink is great for children’s products or in combination with red it can be great for romance

Effective Combinations

The above is a general guideline to think about colors and which ones to choose.  You should have a professional designer help you to effectively combine the colors on your website so that they are very attractive.

You may want to consider testing the impact of different colors, using testing.  It’s common for high traffic websites to test even small things, like the impact of a green call to action button versus a red call to action button.

Colors and Your Brand

It’s important to note that the colors you use impact your brand recognition.  It is important to align your website colors with your logo so that it enhances your brand.