Are you communicating the intended message to your online visitors? The message can be more than just written words, the mood that it creates can be determined by the colors used in the website. Many people pick colors for their websites or logs based on colors that THEY like. Picking the WRONG colors can have unintended consequences on the actual message you are trying to convey. Color causes intense emotions that we are not consciously aware of.
When selecting colors for your website, keep these 5 Factors in mind.
- CONSIDER YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
- LIMIT THE NUMBER OF COLORS TO 3
- PICK COLORS THAT WORK WELL TOGETHER
- PROVIDE SUFFICIENT CONTRAST BETWEEN THE BACKGROUND AND TEXT
- CONSIDER THE MOOD YOU WANT TO CREATE
TARGET AUDIENCE- Who are your targeted customers? If you target primarily men or customers under 30 years of age, the colors should be strong and bold. Women, in general, favor soft, muted pastel colors.
LIMIT COLORS TO 3- More than three colors can cause things to appear more cluttered and will actually interfere with the message you want to send your visitors.
COLORS THAT WORK WELL TOGETHER- In general, colors that are in the same color family will work best together. Colors that are close together on the color wheel make a pleasing contrast for the eyes. One of the colors should be bold, while the others are more muted.
CONTRASTING BACKGROUND AND TEXT- On the web, you are trying to get ther person to read what you have to say. For this reason, you need to provide sufficient contrast for the text to be easily readable. Don’t ignore the glare effect from the screen.
CONSIDER MOOD- Different colors tend to create different moods unconsciously. Try to pick colors that will convey a mood for buying your product or service. Remember, people don’t buy what they NEED, they buy what they WANT. Creat the mood to for buying YOUR product.
