Factor Psychology Of Colour Into Your Web Design To Boost Conversions

For most websites, if not all, conversions are the single most important factor for its success. Whenever someone signs up for a newsletter, registers for a webinar, fills out a contact form, or simply buys a product or service, that’s a notch on a webmaster’s win column. And believe it or not, the colours that make up a web’s design has a lot to do with it.

Colours are a powerful tool in web design. Come to think of it, colours wield a lot of power over the human psyche in just about anything. After all, colours considerably impact our attitudes and emotions, and that is why there is this thing called colour psychology, a legitimate sub-field of industrial psychology.

As many studies have proven, anyone can use the psychology of colour to send a positive or negative message, calm a crowd or incite them, motivate athletes to train harder, or encourage sales. A good web designer knows that and likely incorporates colour psychology into every website they create to grab a user’s attention and trigger desired emotions, both of which lead to conversions.

So how does a web designer factor the psychology of colour factor into their web design to boost conversions? Much colour psychology revolves around the values, emotions and physiological reactions associated with various colours. As such, a good web designer has to understand how people react in general to a particular shade and incorporate those colours into the website design to achieve the desired effect—conversions.

So what values and emotions are commonly associated with what colours? How do people react physically upon seeing a certain shade? Here’s a psychological overview of some basic colours.

Blue

One only needs to look at Facebook to see the success the colour blue can help bring. In fact, blue is commonly used in the business world, the financial sector in particular. This is not surprising since blue is typically associated with reliability, security, intelligence, trust, and safety, all of which are vital factors when doing business. Since it’s also the colour of serenity and calmness, blue is thought to lower your heart rate as well as your blood pressure. For many people, blue is also the coolest colour in more ways than one.

Of course, blue has certain downsides. In the English language, blue will forever be associated with sadness. Websites could also come off as cold and distant because of the colour blue.

Red

Would you like to create a sense of urgency on your website for, say, a clearance sale? Then colour it red, the colour of passion. Make users’ hearts race with text and numbers screaming huge discounts against a crimson backdrop. You will notice that marketing materials often use red, which is perhaps the most stimulating of all items in the colour wheel.

Since red is the colour of passion, it follows that rage and jealousy are also linked with red. The same goes for danger and violence.

Black

Let’s get the fact that black often signifies darkness, death, oppression and heaviness out of the way.

Beyond that, black brings to mind a lot of wonderful associations. There’s that wildly successful “black is beautiful” line. Check out ads for high-end products, and you’ll see a lot of black because of the polish, sleekness, elegance and glamor that it brings. Black is also a great colour with which to project power.

Yellow

No other colour conjures images of joy, cheerfulness, and warmth better than yellow. One may feel a sense of optimism and even feel a little younger upon setting eyes on the colour. However, one downside to this otherwise sunny colour is that it can get a little overwhelming, so go a little easy on the yellow when designing your website.

White

Innocence, purity, and virtue are what the colour white is about, in the Western world at least. More universally, white symbolises cleanliness and hygiene, which is why it’s widely used in the healthcare industry, although many other business models like using white as well. However, white may also give off a vibe that’s unfriendly and cold.

Green

Green is believed to promote decisiveness, which makes it great for boosting your conversions. Health and relaxation are also associated with green, probably because it’s a colour that the eyes and brain find easy to process. The word green, of course, is used interchangeably with the environment, and it’s a natural colour for websites that promote environmental causes and products.

Orange

Orange straddles the best of both worlds. The warmth it gives off, and the cheerfulness it inspires is akin to that of the colour yellow. It also creates a sense of urgency just like red. Orange is a popular colour to use for strong calls to action.

Check out the infographic below from My Biz Niche for a more in-depth look into the psychology of colour, and how understanding it can help your website increase its conversions.