Working with Color

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
When building a web site, there are about 450 billion things to take into account.

Ok...there are about 100 things (Don't sue me for overstating things.  Our web design business in is Albany, NY - the capital city of New York State.  In any political town, it's hard to stay truthful when politicians are all around you).

But 100 things to look at is still a lot of details to keep straight! And it only gets more complicated when you start talking about color schemes.

Color Me Blind?

The color scheme of a web site is a crucial piece of the puzzle. Get the scheme right, and everyone wins. Clients, visitors, and designers are happy as clams.

But get the scheme wrong, and everyone loses. Sales drop, visitors feel uncomfortable, and designers lose sleep at night, wondering where it all went wrong.

Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding on a web color scheme:

1. Cultural Perceptions:

Did you know that in India, white is associated with unhappiness? That's a good piece of knowledge to have if you will be marketing to people from India. The Internet is worldwide, so if you have a global audience, you need to be careful what your design choices symbolize to people coming from different cultural backgrounds. 

2. The Urge to Buy:

When making purchases, people often put some kind of reason into their consideration process. But more often than not, the real decision to purchase is made emotionally. If someone feels good on your web site, they're much more likely to buy from you. The colors you choose for your web site set the emotional tone, so make sure you choose them well.

3. Please the Eye: 

Well-harmonized color schemes have a pleasing effect on a person. Conversely, poorly harmonized schemes repel people. If your web site's colors clash, you'll find visitors that come to your site quickly move on to another one. They won't be sticking around to read your content or buy your stuff.   Red and Green?  Try again.

4. Your Audience:

A 25 year old guy with a penchant for snowboarding and other mountain activities will probably love a site like this one. But that wintery scheme isn't going to work for a 40 year old mom looking for something fun to do with her kids in the summer. She'll be looking for something more along these lines. My point? Know your audience. Don't use colors you like, use colors your customers like.

And by the way, if you don't have any current branding, working with your web design team is a great opportunity to come up with some. When you get settled on some great colors for your site, you can start to use those in your other collateral as well (business cards, letterhead, etc.)