Often a major question that is faced by the designers while designing a website is about the choice of a particular color that will suit the identity of the brand and the niche of the website. The choice of a wrong color for a website might prove to be disastrous as a color can have a negative impact on the psyche of the readers. It is imperative to say that color communicates more than the words that are published on a website.
Prior to deciding on the color scheme, you need to consider the profile of the target audience, the nature of the services that are offered by the website, and most importantly, the aim of the site.
The Power of Color
Color is known to be a powerful tool for web designers because it helps in communicating the message through the site easily. With the use of effective color, designers can express personality of the brand and highlight different parts of the content.
There are a few guidelines that designers have to follow while using colors for their website. Some knowledge of the color theory is a must for the designers before beginning the process of designing a website.
Overview of Color Theory
When choosing colors, start with the color wheel because, traditionally, that is considered to be the first point in the process. Color can be segregated in three parts:
- Primary colors that consist of a base color as blue, red and yellow.
- Secondary colors that include purple, green and orange.
- Tertiary color that include various mixtures of colors.
As part of the color theory, it is important to understand the relationship between different colors. It is important for web designers to understand groups of colors that are related with emotion. Important color schemes that are in vogue for designing websites are also an important part of the color theory.
Effect of Color on Readers
Color theory helps the designers to understand the importance of colors and the effect each of these colors have on the senses of the readers. You cannot deny that readers, too, have an emotional response to the colors that are used on the site.
Because of this emotional response, it is important for the designers to be deliberate while using colors for a website. Some colors can excite and stimulate readers, while other colors can make the readers feel tranquil. Often mixing the colors can prove to be beneficial for the websites, but make sure that you do not overuse these colors. An effective use of color is the mixing of complementary colors.
Influence on Conversion Rate
Psychologists believe that readers on a subconscious level are prone to have impressions about the choice of color and almost sixty percent of the refection or acceptance of a website is directly linked to the color used on the site.
The selection of a particular color that has a positive impact on the reader can cause the reader to browse the site longer than a color that has a negative impact. The longer site stay can lead to a rise in the conversion rate.
While considering the color scheme for the website, make sure that the background color provides good contrast for the site content to make it easier to read and view for the visitor.
Appropriate Choice of Colors
The color of the text is also important it is always advisable to keep it dark so that it is easy for the eyes. Whereas the color used for describing the product can be in different colors. Make sure that the color that you are using is relevant to the industry. For instance, the color red evokes emotion and is used for call-to-action buttons or for sites designed for children. Orange is known to be appealing to the young generation and often many technical companies use this color.
While yellow represents creativity and cheerfulness, it can also be painful on the eyes because it can be bright on a screen. Blue is a conservative color and relaxes the nervous system, and is suitable for hi-tech websites.
Adapt Simplistic Approach
While there are millions of colors to choose from, make sure that you do not make it look like a rainbow with too many colors. As a rule of thumb, while designing a site, keep the choice of colors restricted to a maximum of three colors.
Often you can achieve success with your website by keeping it simple. It is very unlikely that you will use colors that will fit the target audiences across different categories. As a designer, the key to the successful choice of color is to find the color that will suit your target audience the best.
Monochromatic Color Scheme
An emerging trend about the use of colors in web designing is the use of monochromatic color schemes. Monochromatic color schemes use only white or black shades. This color scheme is known to have a good impact on the readers as it is similar to traditional print media and the contrast makes such a site that uses the scheme to be easy to read.
Another reason behind the rise in popularity of this color scheme is that it is easy to design. Often, while using different colors, designers have to worry about the right combinations to make it look perfect, but with the monochromatic color scheme you only need to decide on one color and then lighten or darken the shade.
Avoid Wrong Color Combination
While you can use different color combinations on a site, some combinations may not fit with the niche of the website. If you are in doubt about the use of the colors to use, you can always resort to using the monochromatic color scheme. Since there will be no competing colors when using the monochromatic color scheme, it can give a simple and harmonious look to a website.
Help in Emphasizing the Important Parts
If you stick with a simple color scheme, you can use contrasting colors to emphasize important parts of a website to the readers. A simple color scheme also ensures that there is no distraction on the site as can happen when multiple colors or flashy colors are used on the website. Reducing distraction is a great way of also emphasizing the important content to readers.