Open book of colour charts
 

Websites and Colours

Website colour choice is an area of aesthetic judgement, except where colour is likely to detract from performance. On a business website, turning customers off before they get started is not a good idea.

Many leading sites adopt a surprisingly simple layout and neutral colour scheme, including international names such as Google or Flickr. Erring on the conservative side will rarely lose you custom if your website has much to offer, a risky colour layout can, even with good content.

Avoid strident colours or making too much of a statement, being pleased with your website helps but this is built for your clients not for you. Above all ensure text is easy to read, layout and navigation simple to follow. Colour can assist with this and help create a good impression, just take care.

Choosing Website Colours

A good place to start is websites which are popular and professionally built, particularly in a similar sector. Choosing colours for a game site aimed at young people will lead to different conclusions than an information site targeting another generation. You should not be copying other layouts but they can provide inspiration.

Your business may have a colour scheme but don't feel obliged to stick to this. What is effective in print, or on the side of a van may not succeed on the web. If you don't wish to move too far away, there are plenty of online colour wheels and planners to help you adjust tone, or find complimetary colours.

Add a Variety of Opinions

No need to follow suggestions from these tools exactly, the human eye helps. Make sure a range of people look at your design. Useful if they also look using a variety of screen sizes and lighting, colour combinations which work in daylight can leave a different impression under artificial light.

There are equally times when going against the grain is a good thing. If you want areas of a site to draw attention, opposing colours can achieve this. Again take in other opinions, try the idea in small doses and generally stick with primary colours or close tones of them, a striking pink on a subtle site may be too much.

The Effect of Your Choice

Serious colour errors cause damage, if in doubt don't be boring but play safe, simply good business. Few people leave your website or feel unsure because this is calm but may do if colours are disruptive. A quiet colour scheme can bring trust and an overall feeling of a good experience.

This often shows in a test intended to show what is effective on a website, eye tracking studies, with hot or cold colours to show where people look. Disruptions in the pattern are not all positive, linking these studies to analysis of subconscious reaction suggests the opposite can be true. People also stare at what they don't like and an imbalanced colour scheme literally reduces pleasure.

Value for your clients

Ensure your users do enjoy their visit, by doing so you are giving them and yourself opportunity. There's a solid rule in website colour choice, however well founded, if something looks out of place it probably is. If we can help with this, or any debatable aspect of a site, take a look through our services:

We hope you found our article helpful and are equally happy if you don't need our support. If you ever do, you are welcome to contact us.