Shoppers generally make their purchasing decisions based on color. More than eight in 10 shoppers, in fact, do so.
It’s true.
I was at first skeptical of that statistic, but then it made sense: we humans are very visual animals and our reliance on visuals is evident in everything we do – why would this be any different with purchasing decisions? When you think about it, just imagine
Most tend to have a distinct color scheme associated with their brand identity.
For McDonald’s it’s red and yellow.
For Dell it’s blue.
And so on.
Color and branding
Building brand identity is vital.
It’s one of the key ingredients of creating trust, making you feel comfortable and getting people to come back and buy your product or service.
What is an integral part of a brand?
Its logo.
The color scheme that a company chooses for its logo is all-important when it comes to how it is perceived.
It’s important to remember some other factors, though.
The colors of your brand have some relation to the values you are trying to portray.
Website color scheme
When designing the color scheme for your website, it’s vital to keep in mind not only the right colors for your logo, but also which colors will help you in conversion rates. Colors should be chosen in order to maximise visibility and not in order to pick “whatever looks cool” to you.
Of course, you may want awesome looks and to “make it pop,” but selecting a color scheme is something that you may want to give plenty of thought.
Why?
“It takes people less than a minute to decide how they feel about the environment they are in. More than 50% of that judgment is based on color alone.”
If you pick a color scheme for your website that aligns with the colors in your target demographic, you’ll already be doing half of the work. I will now show you 12 easy tips on how to find the perfect website color scheme with some help based on my research and own experience
1. Understand how color affects emotion
To start, I recommend that you research how colors affect humans from an emotional level. Although the effects vary depending on geographical location, this is a great way to determine which color scheme will suit your business best.
For instance, a color that appeals to American shoppers may not necessarily appeal to Indian shoppers.
For example, a color that appeals to American shoppers may not necessarily appeal to Indian shoppers. There are references for this on the Color Emotion Guide, which can be found online too. I also came across the guide *Color Emotion Guide *that explains the emotions we associate with colors and provides some examples of companies that have used each color in their branding.
If you have time, check out these examples and try to find the psychological implications of the colors.
2. Consider your overall demographic
Now I’d want you to think about your target demographic.
What kind of target audience do you want to reach and sell to?
Understanding the psychology behind what emotions different demographics can feel is really important.
I recommend you read this article from from Fast Company that talks about the emotional and psychological aspects behind the colors we use the most.
Before making any choices, try to pinpoint the personality and emotions of your target audience.
It’s also necessary to know what colors are already associated with your niche market.
For example, green can be especially successful for organic food companies since it commonly represents health and environmental friendliness.
3. Consider gender
You may not find this argument to be broadly applicable, but some companies serve only a specific gender.
If you’re one of those companies, you’ll want to know what colors men and women like the most and the least. As you know, blue is very popular with men and disliked by women.
Women are drawn to blue/purple, while they are repelled by light brown or orange. Just more of a factor you should be aware of.
4. Consider age group
You might not have noticed, but the age of your target audience plays a major role in determining the most suitable color for you to use for branding purposes.
5. Let go of your biases
This is one mistake that I see plenty of businesses make when it comes to choosing a color scheme.
And that’s basing the choice on what you personally like rather than psychology. If your favourite color is blue, it’s very tempting to make blue your primary brand colors too.
Wouldn’t it be a mistake to use yellow in the branding of cosmetics that are targeted towards females?
It’s important to keep in mind that your personal preferences, no matter how well-intentioned, might end up costing you in the end.
6. Decide on how many colors to use
Now, you should have a preferred color in mind. Next, you need to figure out how many colors will be used. There is no set rule for this but I would like to share something that’s known as the 60-30-10 rule
Often, interior designers and fashion experts find color schemes by divvying up three different colors so as to ensure there is a perfect balance.
Here’s how it breaks down.
- 60 percent of a primary color
- 30 percent of a secondary color
- 10 percent of a tertiary color
It’s important to have an understanding of these percentages.
E.g. If your Primary Color is set to Red, then it will take up about 60% of your website, the Secondary Color will take up about 30% and the tertiary Color will take up about 10%. In essence, this means that the optimum number of colors to use would be
Three.
It’s not necessary to go with three colors, but it is a good number to keep in mind. You can easily complicate things and make them look ugly if you use more than four colors.
7. Choose your set of colors
Now is the time for you to make a decision about your color choices.
It’s important to have good contrast between the text and the background in order to make it easier to read, so bear that in mind when you are picking colors for your website.
A dark background can look good and make it easier to read, but not every site works with this.
8. Consult the color wheel
You may want to consider the color wheel when choosing the color scheme for your site. It was used in art back when you learned about creating paintings and is a great tool.
Create a harmonious effect with analogous or contrasting colors
One possible complementary pair would be yellow and purple.
Another option could be green and orange.
One possible analogous pair would be orange and red.
Another option could be green and blue.
9. Check out the competition
Looking at the color schemes of competitors is a great way to learn more about what types of colors and patterns work well for your industry.
I highly recommend looking at at least three websites and noting any overarching trends in their color schemes.
You can also see some favorite colors from these websites to use when designing your own website or presentation.
To ensure your brand is attractive, you need to create a color scheme that people are used to.
The best way of differentiating yourself from other products on the market is to use an unconventional color scheme like mine.
10. Compare a few different color schemes
It’s worth giving your logo some thought before just settling on the first color scheme you come up with.
Try coming up with 3 or 4 different ideas and comparing each one to one another.
If you involve your colleagues or business partners they might be able to give you better feedback than if you don’t get anywhere with it on your own.
Then all you have to do is start picking out the ones you like and voilà, you have a winner!
Conclusion
You don’t need to be an expert designer to come up with a good website color scheme.
There are different ways of understanding colors or making your choices according to your audience or the emotions these colors give, for example.
As long as you have a basic understanding of all that, you will be able to come up with something good!
There’s no one right color scheme, but by trying out some and finding what works best for you and your site, you’ll be on the right track to connecting with visitors on an emotional level and contributing to a lower bounce rate.
Which factors influence your color scheme decisions?
Need help?
The Kyra Web Inc. team can help you decide the best color scheme for your website. With our help, you’ll be able to have a much better understanding of your target audience and what they want. All it takes is a 5-minute chat with one of our designers to get started.
