Harnessing the Color Theory for a Website That Converts

October 4, 2016

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The colors of your brand, shop, and online presence have a massive impact on your marketing. It’s no secret that leading brands utilize strategic colors to help achieve their goals. Why shouldn’t you?

In this article, you’ll learn the answers to:

A Word On Color Psychology

Color Psychology is the study of how hues affect human behavior, and it’s been done to death from a wide variety of angles. Artists, interior designers, and even therapists have learned how to use color to manipulate our moods and behavior. Some say that Color Psychology is a flimsy theory with no substantial proof. To that, I say . . .

Maybe so!

But it seems to be working for multi-billion dollar corporations, so take your hard facts elsewhere. Now let’s begin with a breakdown of the most influential colors:

RED

Red is said to have a physical effect on the body. It gets the blood pumping and the heart racing. This feisty color is often affiliated with anger and lust, but when used correctly, red can do great things for your website.

Encourages appetite

Creates a sense of urgency

Associated with excitement

Immediately pulls focus

BLUE

Blue is pleasing to the eye, which makes it a popular color among all types of people – especially men. This color is best known for its soothing effects and trust-worthy vibe, but it can also stimulate productivity.

Invokes trust

Provides a sense of security

Curbs appetite

Stimulates productivity

GREEN

Green is the universal color for healing, growth, harmony, and environmental care. This tranquil color is considered to be beneficial to the body and is said to have a calming effect on the brain and the metabolism.

Encourages self-reliance

Improves creativity

Promotes healing and growth

Enhances decisiveness

PURPLE

Everyone is well aware that purple often symbolizes royalty, power, luxury, and extravagance, but did you know that it can also be used to increase creativity and imagination? This color is said to stimulate the problem solving region of the brain.

Enhances creativity

Encourages free thinking

Invokes feelings of wealth

Represents magic

ORANGE

Orange is considered the fun color and can be used to stimulate physical activity and confidence. Be careful with this color, however, for it can easily overwhelm when used excessively, and can also give off the impression of a cheap product or service.

Encourages physical activity

Promotes confidence

Creates urgency or haste

YELLOW

Yellow is a cheerful, but anxious color. It’s best used as an accent color to capture attention or brighten an otherwise bland color scheme. Although many believe yellow makes babies cry, there has never been any actual proof on the matter.

Invokes cheer

Stimulates excitement

Activates anxiety

BLACK

When used appropriately, black depicts luxury, value, and sophistication. It has also been affiliated with intelligence, power, and authority. This mysterious shade is often used for high-end brands and designers.

Suggests high value

Indicates luxury

Offers power or exclusivity

WHITE

Last, but certainly not least, we have white: most commonly affiliated with purity and cleanliness in the U.S. As you assemble the perfect color scheme for your website, you mustn’t forget the wise use of white space to put your visitors at ease.

Encourages Creativity

Represents Cleanliness

Suggests Purity

What Colors Are Best for Your Industry?

Now that you’re familiar with the major influential colors and how they affect our behavior, you can start planning a palette that will work best for your business goals, based on your industry.

The Food Industry

You’ll notice that the vast majority of restaurants and fast food joints incorporate red into their design. Many also add yellow and green to complete their desired impression of fun, healthy, etc. 

Luxury Products or Upscale Brands

You can bet that more often than not, if the brand is expensive, then the logo is dark. To appeal to their targeted audience, these brands use a lack of color to convey sophistication and value. 

The Medical Industry

The medical industry is a blend of blue and green, sometimes incorporating red into the mix. These strategic logos suggest trust, reliability, and maturity.

Youthful Products or Services

Toy companies almost always use bright, cheerful primary colors in their logos. This attracts the eyes of their little consumers and suggests fun, creativity, and excitement.

How Can You Use the Color Theory in Your Web Design?

I’ll show you! By structuring your color scheme strategically, you’ll be able to increase the aesthetic of your design, which will invite visitors to stay longer, which will increase your chance of a sale, which will increase your conversion rates! For the backdrop of your website, use a color that is pleasing to the eye since it’ll take up the majority of your site. Avoid colors that can easily overwhelm or cause feelings of anxiety. Make your visitors feel comfortable with staying for a while.     So there you have it, folks! The power of the color theory and how you can use it to your benefit! I hope you learned something valuable from this post. For more exclusive marketing tips from the experts, join our email subscribers and receive tips and tricks straight to your inbox!

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WRITTEN BY

Luke Heinecke

Luke is in love with all things digital marketing. He’s obsessed with PPC, landing page design, and conversion rate optimization. Luke claims he “doesn’t even lift,” but he looks more like a professional bodybuilder than a PPC nerd. He says all he needs is a pair of glasses to fix that. We’ll let you be the judge.
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