Color Psychology On Your Web Site

A surprisingly few number of people building their web sites give much thought into the colors they use. It could be decided for them by a designer or it might be chosen simply because it is their favorite color.

It really wouldn't matter much except for one thing: Specific colors can trigger certain reactions in people for various reasons.

Many times reaction to color can be a conditioned response.

For example on a page filled with various colored ads, which color is mostly like to attract the eye first?

The answer is: red.

By any chance, did your eyes get drawn to the word red above before you answered the question? If so, the psychology of color just worked on you!

Why is red such a responsive color?

The theory is that red elicits a response to danger. Perhaps blood or even fire?

What ever the reason is, you should be saving red for those things on your site that you want to have your visitors be sure to look at.

Matching The Mood

An important consideration for choosing the right colors for your site should be the appropriateness of the colors.

For example, my friend Mike Pedersen runs the site at www.golf-trainer.com

The site is obviously focused on golf, so the choice of colors for the site is very appropriate:

Mike's site is not just focused just on golf, it is more specific on conditioning, training and maximizing your performance in golf. The choice of green on his site is even more appropriate because green is considered a color which is associated with health and tranquility.

Here are generally recognized emotions commonly associated with various colors:

• Red - passion, aggressiveness, vitality, strength
• Green - health, tranquillity, fresh
• Blue - authority, dignity, security, faithfulness
• Pink - femininity, softness, innocence, health.
• Orange - fun, cheerful, warm exuberance.
• Yellow - positive, optimistic
• White - pure, truthful, contemporary, refined
• Gray - authority, somberness, practicality , corporate
• Black - serious, distinctive, bold, classic.
• Purple - sophisticated, spiritual, royal, mysterious
• Brown - earthy, wilderness, rich

Now that you know the inside secret of color psychology, you will be browsing the internet a bit differently. Pay attention and see how well the color choices match the feel of the site. This can help you reinforce the right message to the visitors to your own site if you take it into consideration.