Let’s say you’re on a website with a well-structured navigation menu, clear and concise headings, and compelling calls to action. Every element, from the copy to the layout, seems carefully optimized.
However, you start noticing inconsistencies in the color scheme. The headline text is excessively bright, causing strain on your eyes. Or maybe the hero sections on various pages follow a random, uncoordinated color palette.
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This lack of consistency in color usage is making the site feel disjointed and less professional. It’s disruptive to a good user experience.
Did you know that 85% of consumers say color is one of the primary factors that influence their purchase decisions. This is why a good website visitor experience cannot be achieved without applying the basic principles of color psychology to web design.
Color psychology studies how colors affect human behavior and emotions.
It’s based on the idea that different colors evoke different psychological responses. Research shows that colors can significantly impact mood, perception, and even physical reactions in web design.
By understanding the psychology behind color associations, designers can strategically select colors to draw out specific emotional responses to enhance the overall user experience.
Colors have a conscious and subconscious effect on how a user thinks about your brand.
When users first land on your homepage, the background color helps them form a subconscious impression about your site by setting the tone of a website.
In fact, 42% of online users base their approval of a website on overall design alone, and it can impact the readability of text, the visibility of icons, and the prominence of buttons.
That said, your choice of colors can help steer your audience’s emotions.
Based on your industry, your business objectives, and competitor website analysis, you should be able to discern which background color will help your site give the best user experience to visitors and elicit the emotions you want from them.
Different industries choose particular colors to interact with their customers. Here’s why:
Industries like healthcare and finance have to visually communicate stability and trust, and cool tones like blue, green, and gray are top options.
Blue is often associated with security and stability, inspiring confidence in customers and reassures users of reliability.
Scientists speculate that its psychological impact might have something to do with how blue light is known to reduce the production of melatonin, which can help people feel more awake and alert.
This physiological response makes blue an effective color for maintaining attention and focus, essential in settings requiring careful attention to detail.
Green is associated with growth and success, which makes it a common option for financial institutions as it helps encourage optimism in branding. Green being the center of the visible light spectrum, is perceived as the most restful color for the human eye.
This ease of visual processing can help reduce fatigue and improve comfort, which is beneficial in settings that require prolonged focus and concentration.
Source: WHO
Even outside of web design, black has long been associated with luxury and is culturally tied to authority, power, and control. It also helps create a visual focal point that commands attention.
In web design, black creates a strong visual impact and while also helping enhance the legibility of other important elements on the site such as copy and hero images.
White is also another option, frequently used by brands who want to focus on understated simplicity and a modern aesthetic.
More striking hues like gold and purple are also applied, as both are historically associated with luxury, but are often used as accents.
Source: Chanel
Visuals are important in this industry so it’s common to see solid, contrasting colors for many music and entertainment sites. The use of bright colors have been known to increase heart rate, which is why it’s so effective in capturing attention and evoking excitement.
For example, Last.fm uses a dark background to make album covers and other visual elements on their site stand out.
Source: last.fm
Bright colors like pink, orange, and red are a popular choice, as it’s a powerful color that evokes energy and excitement. Purple is another that helps communicate creativity and mystery; and yellow helps communicate energy, vibrance, and positivity.
White is common among home interior and design sites as it tends to emphasize a clean, minimalist yet versatile look that makes it easier for users to imagine themselves in these spaces.
At the same time, keeping the website background simple pulls focus on the different elements on the site–such as the products without overwhelming the user.
Source: Tumble
Given the complex nature of the industry, technology and SaaS companies often simplify their visual branding by opting for a more minimalist aesthetic.
White is a common choice to impart a clean, modern, and uncluttered visual vibe.
For instance, Dropbox emphasizes simplicity and ease of use with a white background. Gray is another popular color that communicates sleekness and professionalism, best illustrated in Apple’s website.
Source: Apple
Generally, bright colors tend to boost engagement, so if your goal is to get users to click on a button or draw attention, red is often a popular choice.
The food and beverage industry also uses a lot of red and orange as it helps stimulate appetite and excite the senses. Yellow is another bright hue that helps evoke feelings of happiness and hunger while at the same time conveying cheerfulness and warmth.
Source: McDonald's
When selecting colors for headlines, think about how they will be perceived in the specific context of your website.
According to the Institute for Color Research, red can increase attention and is effective in situations requiring a quick response. It is also known to increase heart rates and create a sense of urgency.
Denny’s use of red is two-fold in this page–red is a color that is known to stimulate appetite, ideal because they are in the food industry, but in this case, it also communicates urgency and excitement for a social issue that they are promoting.
Reliability, stability, security, and calmness are important emotions that you want to draw from visitors if you’re a service oriented website. In addition to financial and healthcare institutions favoring blue, many companies that intend to invoke trust in their services use this color as well.
DesignRush draws user attention to their awards program through the use of blue to create a clear visual hierarchy. It taps into the color’s psychological associations that lets users feel confident about the brand.
The use of blue also creates strong contrast against the white background, improving readability and is consistent with the brand’s overall branding.
Green covers a wide range of psychological associations that include wellness and health, financial growth, and environmental sustainability.
Wise, an online banking platform, reinforces the message of financial health and growth.
Their use of green in the headlines pertaining to paperless transaction highlights their eco-friendliness and sustainability, subtly communicating their commitment to ethical practices that tap into the values of environmentally conscious users.
Yellow is effective in evoking positive emotions and putting the spotlight on important information.
Psychologically, the color inspires positive associations of happiness, positivity, and energy and in the case of language learning platform, Ling, they use yellow as part of their overall branding color scheme, but also to draw focus to their call to action.
Ling’s goal is to make language learning a fun and engaging experience, and the color yellow highlights CTAs that encourage positive associations and quick decisions pertaining to learning.
Black can convey authority and elegance. Since these luxury brands need to connect with the demand for sophistication in the visitor, they often use black to capitalize on that feeling.
Vogue remains true to its reputation as a luxury fashion authority by using black. To promote their exclusive event, Vogue World 2024: Paris, they use a black and white headline with a countdown to emphasize visual appeal and grab attention.
Color plays a critical role in the effectiveness of hero images. Using a bold, contrasting color in the hero image can draw attention to your primary message or product.
High Contrast: High contrast hero images enhance the text’s readability and the design’s visual appeal.
Nike uses high-contrast, energetic images with bold green accents. This choice of colors helps their hero images convey excitement and athleticism.
Brand Alignment: Hero image colors that align with your overall brand color palette add towards web design consistency and reinforce brand identity.
Airbnb uses hero images with a warm brown overlay. This brown evokes comfort and security, which aligns with their brand message of providing safe and comfortable stays.
Airbnb's hero image features a cozy and inviting kitchen interior with a slight brown overlay.
User-Centric Design: Use A/B testing to determine which are the best color schemes for your site and can help you connect with your audience. Test different palettes to know which colors drive the most engagement and conversions.
HubSpot A/B tested their hero image to determine what would get the best user engagement. In one variant, they added vibrant images and colorful texts and shapes. In another, they added color, movement, and animated images on the side. The first variant with colorful texts and shapes succeeded in getting them 375 more sign ups monthly.
Your website is also meant to drive user actions, such as signing up for a trial, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase. The color of your call-to-action buttons plays a role in achieving this.
CTA buttons need to stand out and be immediately noticeable, but it should still align with your brand’s overall aesthetic. Choose a color that is unique to your brand and sets you apart.
Color: Choose a color that contrasts sharply with your website's background to ensure the CTA button stands out.
SEOProfy’s homepage uses a bright yellow "Book a Free consultation" button that stands out against the white background, making it immediately noticeable.
Branding: While the CTA button should stand out, it should still align with your brand’s color palette to maintain consistency to reinforce your brand identity even in action-oriented elements.
Dropbox uses a blue "Try for free" button that aligns with its brand color palette.
Size and Shape: The size of the CTA button should be large enough to be easily noticeable but not so large that it overwhelms other elements on the page. Rounded edges often work well because they draw the eye inward, focusing attention on the button’s text.
Slack features a deep purple "Get Started" button on its homepage, which contrasts well with the white background and other page elements.
Pop-ups on sites engage visitors with special offers, sign-up prompts, or important announcements. This color needs to look consistent with your brand identity to avoid being mistaken for an ad.
Using Brand Color in Pop-Ups: Incorporate your primary brand colors into your pop-ups to maintain visual consistency and reinforce brand recognition.
HubSpot implements a blue pop-up with white text and buttons that match their branding, ensuring the pop-up looks integrated and trustworthy.
Color Combinations: Utilize complementary colors. This involves pairing your brand colors with contrasting hues to make the pop-up elements stand out.
Sephora uses a sleek black pop-up with a white background to guide users.
Background Contrast: Ensure the pop-up background contrasts with your website’s background to make it more noticeable and increase the likelihood of user engagement.
Neil Patel makes use of orange and blue colors against a gray interface to draw attention to their sign-up prompt.
Effective use of color can enhance the visibility of the navbar, improve usability, and reinforce your brand identity.
Contrast and Visibility: Use high-contrast colors for your navbar to make it stand out against the background. This improves readability and ensures users can easily find and navigate the menu options.
Neil Patel’s website has a bright orange navbar with white text and blue-boxed CTA. The light text stands out splendidly against the bright colors.
Highlight Active Links: Use a distinct color to highlight active or hovered links in the navbar. This provides a visual cue to users about their current location on the site.
When users hover over a link in the navbar, X highlights it with bold format making it stand out against the white navbar and indicating its active status.
Simplicity and Clean Design: Too many colors on your navbar can be distracting. Stick to a limited color palette that aligns with your brand.
Google features a white navbar with blue and gray text, reflecting simplicity and ease of use, which are core to Google’s brand.
Effective web design relies heavily on smart use of contrast, especially between text and background for readability and accessibility. Balance colors of different intensities, to create a clear visual hierarchy that naturally guides users through your site.
Websites have to be readable and accessible to all users. We recommend reading through the accessibility guidelines from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to demonstrate your commitment to inclusivity.
Be cautious with textured or patterned backgrounds. This can make text difficult to read. If you must use them, ensure they are subtle and do not interfere with text clarity.
Since color increases brand recognition by about 80%, maintaining a consistent color scheme helps users easily navigate your site and understand its content. This adds positively to the overall user experience and builds trust in your brand.
The strategic use of color psychology in web design can influence user behavior and enhance the overall user experience in subtle, but very effective ways.
While a well-optimized website with clear navigation and compelling content is great, without the thoughtful and strategic use of color, you are diminishing the overall user experience and disrupting the user journey.