By Bob Speyer, Web Success Team

Color is fundamental to the way we view the Internet, or more to the point a website. It can influence your reaction and viewing experience and even your buying habits. Color selection often times is more intuitive than thoughtful. This article will discuss the use of color for business site development and offer a few guidelines:

1. Backgrounds:

A common mistake in web design is the use of black as a background. In the trade we call it a tombstone. People may think it looks classy, but more often it is hard on the eyes because you have to read white or yellow type. It is hard to get an overall perspective when one scans the page to get a quick sense of what you are promoting or selling. Yellow backgrounds are also hard on the eyeballs. If you use a background color it should be a pastel like baby blue or cream. White is always a safe alternative.

2. Number of Colors

It is recommended to stay within the 216 browser-safe color palette. We recommend using either 2 or 3 colors and tints of each. Too much color or too many colors are distracting and don’t show a uniformity of purpose. The colors can contrast each other, but must work in combination with one predominate and the other subordinate, for emphasis or highlights.

3. Emotional Palette

Color combinations evoke emotions: orange and blue (excitement); green and blue (harmony); single color with its shades can be effective for professional websites as single mindedness (unity).Red – aggressive, persuasive (use for highlighting, emphasis); Blue – success, serious, calm, trust, sales; Brown or Grey – earthiness, strength, confidence; Neutral Tones – suggest an older audience, soft-sell, mature.

4. Target Market

Consider your audience. If you are selling to mothers or women primarily, then pink, blue and purple will elicit more positive response. They are very nurturing colors, particularly in combo. If your business caters to the medical field, whether a professional, vendor or patient, then green or blue is familiar, comfortable and trustworthy. If your audience is youth oriented, then you can get loud and innovative, using strong colors and aggressive tones.

5. Selling

Blue is the most popular color by far and the first choice in selling. However there is always an exception to the rule and breaking them can be effective if you don’t wander too far from the norm. Remember, people are creatures of habit and you want them to feel comfortable, familiar, particularly when viewing or interacting with a website. For business websites, blues, grays, browns and burgundies are your colors of choice. They connote a seriousness and are more conservative in nature. Again the use of highlight color such as red or green, if used sparingly will grab a viewer’s attention and are effective call to action colors and buttons. Links are generally light blue and are recognized as such.

A Colorful Conclusion

These color guidelines should give you an insight into the psychology of color when branding your website’s color palette. Common sense is also a effective reference. View your competition and see your own reaction to the use and choice of color. Where does your eye go first, second, third? What is your first impression? We are all emotional creatures and business plays to those emotions. Using color to your advantage will put you in a better position to achieve web success.

The Web Success Team specializes in developing and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online marketing tools and proven customized social media techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site.

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