You don’t think much about colors, do you? Quick, what color scheme does your website use? What about the last website you visited, what was their color scheme? See, maybe you don’t think about it all that much, but the truth is, colors can make all the difference between good and sloppy marketing. And I’ll tell you why.
The psychology behind colors
The color scheme you choose when designing your website shouldn’t reflect your favorite colors, or be chosen at random, because that could seriously impact your sales. And yes, there’s really a psychological explanation for it.
See, most human beings are trained to associate certain emotions with certain colors by the way our society is constructed. For example, when you see bright red, you’ll immediately feel urgency, but also an impulse to stay away. Red is the color of stop signs, of DO NOT TOUCH, and of course, of standing still when it comes to crossing the street.
Green, on the other hand, is another color that suggests urgency, but in a more positive light. They don’t call it the green light for nothing, and website designers have been taking advantage of that for years. It’s time you learned how to do the same.
What do different colors mean?
Obviously, every visitor will associate slightly different things with each color, but we tend to be more alike than we think, in the sense that we’ll all go in roughly the same direction when we see a color. So what direction is that?
Red – it’s one of the most stimulating colors out there, which is why you’ll see it used by a lot of brands. In the marketing world, red usually suggests a sense of urgency and excitement, and pushes customers to buy, subscribe, or do what you want them to. It’s also frequently associated with appetite, which is why a lot of famous food chains use it in their logo design.
Green – often associated with peace, tranquility, and nature. Green is often used for CTA (call to action) buttons, for one simple reason. By inspiring inner harmony, it helps your website visitors feel more decisive, and thus makes them more likely to press the button you want them to.
Blue – blue is the color most associated with peace and strength. In the world of website design, it’s frequently used by brands who want to inspire confidence and reliability.
Purple – usually associated with royalty, wisdom, and beauty, it’s often used to promote beauty brands. It’s a tricky, but highly versatile color, allowing skilled website designers to create some truly unique displays.
Orange – this is the ultimate happy color, which is why we recommend using orange especially if your brand is aimed at children. Orange is popular in website and brand design since it inspires visitors to associate your brand with cheerfulness.
Obviously, how you mix these colors is up to you. You need to find a tasteful color scheme that gently pushes your visitors in the desired direction, without being overpowering.