If you picked out the best web development agency in London and studied the way they use colors on their website, would you think it was done at random? On the surface, you might think so, but a careful study of color use will reveal a trend in how colors are used.
Even when you discuss with the best web development agency in London about designing your website, you can expect to engage in a lengthy discussion about what colors to use. Why? Because colors play a big part in defining perception and influencing decisions. Color Psychology” determines the impact of your website.
Once you have a good grasp of color psychology, you can easily use colors effectively on your website. Here are some ways you can use color.
Using Background Color
The background color is like the wall of a room. The color you choose for your wall will set the mood. It can also determine the amount of light in a room. For a website, the background color will determine how comfortable a person feels when they visit your website. For example, a grey background may make it easier to read the text which means a website with a lot of text might choose a grey background. At the same time, people are likely to associate grey with facts and neutrality.
The background color you use for your website must match with the activity you are engaged in. An e-commerce site for clothing cannot have the same background color as one selling tech gadgets. Subconsciously, a user is receiving a message from your background and that message can determine whether they trust your site or not.
Using the Dominant Color
Do not be misled by the word dominant to conclude that the dominant color needs to be everywhere. Although it will be used more than the other colors, the dominant color must be used strategically. A website like Facebook may have dark blue as its dominant color, but it is not necessarily everywhere.
Usually, it shouldn’t be too hard to choose a dominant color since it is already part of your logo. However, if you do not have the dominant color in the logo, then you will have to find a way of incorporating it.
The dominant color sets the tone of the website and plays the biggest role in influencing visitor’s decisions. Over 50% of buyers admit to making buying decisions based on the color of a website. Now we all know that a website doesn’t have just one color, so that decision is actually based on the dominant color and how it is used.
Choosing the dominant color is usually guided by the following statistics:
- Both male and female are attracted to blue and it signifies trust
- Purple is associated with success and wealth
- Red triggers urgency, excitement, and passion
- Yellow is a happy color that promotes optimism and good spirit
- Orange promotes creativity, enthusiasm, and friendship
- Green is associated with nature, relaxation, money and good health
- Black is elegant, luxurious, and powerful
There’s a lot more about the way colors affect perception but the above can give you an understanding of what drives choice of the dominant color.
When it comes to using the dominant color, here are the best ways to use it.
In the logo: The logo is usually what people associate with your business, it is important that the dominant color appears on the logo or it is used to highlight the logo on the website.
Important Information: Important information like a special offer on the site can be highlighted using the dominant color. This makes that information stand out.
Call to Action: Remember colors influence buying decisions by using the dominant color to influence a user, you will see more positive results
Menu: The menu should be easy to find and the dominant color can help draw attention to it.
Headings: Use the contrast of a dominant color to attract attention to headlines and titles. This makes it easier to skim through.
Incorporate Accent Colors
You cannot use the dominant color throughout the website to highlight everything because then it will lose meaning. This is where accent colors come in. They can be used for sections of the website with secondary information. For example, subtitles and secondary information.
You will still need careful consideration when choosing accent colors. You do not want them to clash with the dominant color and you wouldn’t want it to take away attention from major sections on the site. Sometimes a lighter shade of the dominant color could work well. You might have a favorite color that you wish to include on the site but resist the temptation. Choosing colors for your website should be systematic and according to knowledge of color psychology. Consultation with professional website development services provider in Australia will be a good idea.
