<p>Does the colour of your website really matter? According to psychology, it matters more than you might know. Colour communicates values, associations, and moods on behalf of your brand. Every colour speaks a different language to its viewer &#8212; and that language changes based on context.</p>
<p>One powerful example of how a colour’s meaning can be interpreted differently is the colour red. Red triggers feelings of appetite and hunger when it is used within a branding context for a restaurant; however, when that same shade of red appears in hospital or health care logos, it elicits feelings of safety and healing. A successful business learns how to navigate these colour contexts to communicate with their potential customers. Recent studies have demonstrated that a product’s colour can influence an average of 70% of purchasing decisions.</p>
<h3><strong>The Importance of Colour within Branding…</strong></h3>
<p>The colour of your website matters to customers; your website is often the first contact a potential customer will have with your company, it must represent what you do, your company ethos, appear trustworthy and entice them to stay. People form their first impressions of a product or company after only 90 seconds after viewing a logo, website, or label. In that short amount of time, it&#8217;s colour and visual imagery which communicates most rapidly.</p>
<p>A business that is selecting colour tones for its logo, website or corporate branding needs to understand the power of choosing the right colour tones; it is something with requires careful thought and planning.</p>
<p>Colour has also been shown to increase brand recognition by 80%. In turn, increased brand recognition means increased consumer confidence in their product selection. Different colors also generally attract different kinds of customers. Orange and black attract impulse shoppers, whereas pink, sky blue and rose attract buyers who aren’t constrained by a budget. Stores colour-scheme their displays and décor to match the kind of shopper that their businesses want to attract.</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><img class="aligncenter" title="Colour Charts" alt="" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2318/1569831296_4c6262fa5a.jpg" width="510" height="158" /></p>
<h3><strong>Where to Start…</strong></h3>
<p>So what colour should you choose for your website or brand? As it turns out, that&#8217;s a highly subjective question. People will have positive and negative reactions based on their personal experiences with a certain colour. Cultural differences will also affect how a colour is perceived. For example, white means purity and innocence in the United States, whereas in India, white is associated with death and mourning. If a business has an international presence, it should be mindful of how a colour communicates across cultures.</p>
<p>Here are some tried and tested lessons to get you started:</p>
<ul>
<li>Colours are industry-coded. People associate certain colours with certain types of businesses. These associations are so strong that using a radically different set of colours for a business can make a customer confused about a business’s purpose.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Yellow communicates positivity, warmth and motivation which make it popular for food and housing industries. Overexposure to yellow creates negative moods. The eye becomes fatigued if it stares this colour for too long.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Blue is a dependable, trustworthy, secure colour that is often found in energy, airlines, and technology industries. The most liked colour worldwide is blue. Intel, Dell, AIG and WordPress utilize blue tones within their logos.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Purple is a sophisticated colour often found in finance, technology, and health care.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Brown’s earth-like and durable associations make it attractive for clothing and car brands.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Distinctive brand colours should be protected. A color trademark can protect your company from others applying it to their branding. Leading jewellery company Tiffany’s is an example of a brand which has established and depends upon its trademark colour scheme. The instantly recognizable egg blue colour is used within Tiffany’s marketing campaigns and packaging and is strongly associated with their brand. The colour is protected by the company.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center" align="center"><img class="aligncenter" title="Jewellery" alt="Tiffany's" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7714211672_8fa7346043.jpg" width="510" height="372" /></p>
<h3><strong>Research…</strong></h3>
<p>A successful colour scheme is informed by colour psychology, industry associations, colour branding lessons from leading businesses, and solid design techniques.</p>
<p>95% of companies use only one or two colours in their branding, and one of the most productive steps you can take when choosing a colour scheme is to speak to an experienced designer who knows what colours mean to different demographics, to help make sure your website reflects your brand and your values, right down to the colour.</p>
<p>Branding and website design can be costly, so it is worth putting in the time to develop your design based upon strong informed research so you convey the correct visual message, get it wrong and it could see you investing in a costly re-brand which is not ideal, especially if you are just establishing your business.</p>
<h5>Featured images:</h5>
<p><span class="license">License: Creative Commons</span></p>
<p><span class="source">image source</span></p>
<p><span class="license">License: Creative Commons</span> <span class="source">image source</span></p>
<p><strong>About the author:</strong> Kirsten works for leading voucher code website vouchercloud.net. Part of her job role involves working on the graphics for the website and the designs for print out vouchers themselves. Kirsten loves graphic design and is looking to develop her career in web development and conversion rate optimisation.</p>

How The Colour Tones Of Your Website Can Affect Its Success
