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How to Incorporate the Psychology of Colour into your Website Design

Your mood probably changes throughout the day depending on your surroundings. A cool, white room with minimalist décor will make you feel calm and tranquil, and a room with deep red walls can make you feel energised and even aggressive. Colour psychology has long been used by interior decorators to help create the optimal environment in retail shops or restaurants, for just this reason. These same principles can also be carried over into ecommerce website design. The right colour theme will not only make your website pop, but it could also increase conversion rates.

A potential client will make a decision about your website within a matter of seconds, and colour is one of the primary factors that will influence this decision. When choosing a colour theme, you’ll want to look at the psychological associations behind these colours, but also at the way that they contrast against one another. Some colours might translate well in a retail setting in real life but look sickly on a computer screen.

Common Colour Associations

If you want to make your website look calm, cool, and trustworthy, you might want to pick a colour theme that is based around the cooler shades like blue and green. Blue is a popular colour in retail and ecommerce because it evokes feelings of sincerity and honesty. It can instantly calm a viewer and make them feel engaged with the website. Green is another popular shade to use, particularly in any websites pertaining to health, wellness, and nature. If you’re selling natural supplements, for example, you’d want to work green into your website development or design. This is also commonly used for restaurants to promote a feeling of freshness.

For online clothing stores, pink might be a good option depending on your product line. Some shades can be too sweet for comfort, but a pale pink is a romantic colour that promotes tranquillity and femininity. On the other hand, if you are working with an edgier brand and want to promote a feeling of excitement and youthful energy, you could use red or orange. Red can physically speed up the heart rate of a viewer, and gives them a sense of urgency. Orange has a similar effect. These colours have been shown to improve sales because they make the viewer feel like taking action.

There is something to be said for black and white in a website, particularly if you are using graphics or other images. The use of white space can make your images really stand out, and give a sleek and modern air to the site. This can be seen as more sophisticated and clean.

Colour Combinations

In most cases, you’ll want to combine the colours to create the greatest psychological impact. Many website templates are based on two main colours, as well as white and black. Think about which colour qualities best represent your brand and what associations you want your visitors to make with the website. If you want to evoke sophistication but also create a call to action, for example, black and red might be the way to go. In any case, be sure that your colour combinations make the text readable. You may need to play around with several combinations before you find the right fit, but the importance of colour in a website should not be discounted.