If you think colour is just about how your website looks, then please keep reading - this article is especially for you.
Most of us go about our daily lives without realising how big an influence the colours all around us have.
Why are the McDonald’s golden arches that colour? Why is Facebook blue? Why are original Coca-Cola cans red and white?
Keep reading to discover more about the things you shouldn’t do to arrive at the final choice of colour scheme for your new website:
Not doing any target market research
Who are you trying to sell to online? Questions such as how old they are, how much disposable income they have, and whether they’re predominantly male or female are a good place to start.
You might think that your choice of colours for your site doesn’t matter too much but psychologists all over the world and thousands of user tests prove otherwise.
Identify your target market and set about finding them before making a decision. Hold a focus group and show them different colour options for your website and take their feedback on board.
Just picking your favourite colour(s)
We all have our favourite colours. They might be connected to your football team, childhood memories, or something else entirely.
The thing is, not everyone has the same favourite colour. Yours might be green and your best friend might love pink.
Choosing a colour scheme for your website in a haphazard fashion is likely to have a negative impact on how people act when they use your site. And you might never know about it…
Not taking your products or services into account
Colours and perception are also linked. For example, many luxury brands choose black as the main colour for their websites. Take a look at Rapha as an example.
However if you’re selling low value items or services, black may not be the best colour as it’s commonly associated with more exclusive items. The psychology of that may put people off before they’ve even navigated to see your prices.
Looking at the smaller picture
With the web opening up opportunities to sell all over the world, having too narrow a focus can be a problem.
Many articles on the psychology of colour only focus on one country or continent, but colours can mean very different things across the world.
Take a look at the graphic below courtesy of BaseKit.com on colour meanings in different cultures to see what we mean.
