Webupon

With the millions of websites out there, there could never be enough time to re-visit every single site we come across. Designs and layouts are always getting more advanced however without the right colours, your visitors could be switched off within seconds. So, your website is ready for painting, but where do you start? There are so many different colours and combinations out there to use, it becomes tricky to find the right ones which fit into the context and feel of our website.

What kind of feel or mood are you going for? light hearted, simplistic, heavy, dark. It’s a good idea to have an initial view or idea about your target audience and what their preferences may be. For example a website about eco-friendly living ideas would look a little strange with artificial neon like colours right, lighter greens, whites and blues may be better suited.

It’s about creating the right atmosphere for your visitor, think of it as part of the interior design of your site. Research has shown that colours have a big influence on what your visitors will do at your site. You don’t want to put them off so they leave without seeing the best you have to offer. It’s all about psychology and the trick is to display the right stimuli to your readers.

Here are a few guidelines to think about when deciding what colours to “paint” your website in.

• Nature Knows Best - Colours find in nature are generally more peaceful to the eye and encourage a calmer frame of mind. The reason for this is that un-naturally bright and artificial colours tend to strain the human eye after a while causing tiredness.
• Crazy Combos - Try to avoid combing blues and yellows, and also reds and blues. These  combinations are known to cause eye strain and tiredness after a while.
• Colours as encouragement - When looking at a webpage your eyes will automatically be drawn towards colours that stand out. So use this to your advantage and make your buttons highly visible, or any other small areas you would like visitors to click into. Bolder colours are generally better for buttons and small banners. Also group your colours, links for example can be separate colours to other elements.
• Colours and Mood - Spend a little time researching how different colours can encourage different emotions. Use this information to find a good match for your website. Is it happy, exciting, professional, for a business, comedic etc. trial and error works great here too. Make mock ups of different colour combinations and get some feedback.
• Text Colours – We all know how hard it is when you really want to read something, but you can barely see it. I don’t mean text size, I mean how well it stands out. Avoid light on light colours. Ensure your text is clearly visible and doe’s not blend in with your background colours. Generally dark writing on lighter backgrounds causes the least strain on eyes.
• Don’t forget to leave some white - Finally, leaving some white and plain areas will give your website a balanced and organized look.

So now you know a few guidelines when choosing colours for your website, as mentioned earlier a good idea would be to make a few mock ups. Screen shots of what your site would look like in different colour combinations. Take your time and get positive feedback for them. Don’t forget, painting a website is not like painting a wall, you can swap and revert colours anytime in no time!