Choosing the Best Website Color

One of the main mistakes web designers make is to choose their website color based on their personal likes and dislikes. While in most cases there isn't an obvious negative impact, they are missing out on the benefits of a color scheme targeted to their visitors. Color evokes emotional responses and associations and using website color effectively can keep your visitors coming back.

One aspect of choosing website color is being aware of current trends. While staid navy blue, traditional black, and off-white may be a timeless choice for a web site that wants to evoke feelings of safety and stability, a web site marketing clothing to teenagers needs to look as hip as it's product. Website color trends can be as variable as those in the fashion industry, too.

There are several sources for information on website color trends, the most well known being Pantone's web site. Many sites make predictions as to future color trends, but if you are looking for a global audience be wary of using colors that go against your better judgement. A U.S. based web designer may advocate using purple, while some European cultures may find it a morbid color.

Current trends in website colors are leaning toward a desaturated palette. Desaturated colors tend to appear antique or vintage due to their more muted appearance. They are more subtle and relaxed, suited to an adult audience. You can mix desaturated colors with a natural palette for a more earthy look, as well.

For a younger audience, bright neon colors can be attractive. When working with extremely bright and vibrant website colors, try to make use of black and white as well. They can prevent the highly saturated colors from seeming overwhelming while still giving your website a youthful appearance.

Blue is probably always your safest choice for a website color, as it is safe across cultural boundaries (and also one of the colors almost everyone sees most accurately.) Using desaturated blues can give your site a relaxed, rustic look. Think of faded denim. Vibrant blues can be appealing to a youthful audience and appear energetic, and deep blues can appear stylish yet reserved for sites that want to project stability.

Choosing a trendy, stylish color palette can be difficult for designers who come from a more technical background. There are several web resources that offer pre-made palettes of website colors. There are also software packages that can help with color choices. For designers that will need to make many color choices, a basic art class that discusses color theory (frequently offered at community colleges or adult education programs) can be a worthwhile investment.

The most important factor in choosing your website colors is simply knowing your audience. Bright, vibrant neon colors are probably not going to reassure retirees who visit a site for investment resources, likewise conservative color choices will probably not convince a young audience that you are in tune with current fads. No matter what color palette you choose, don't sacrifice readability and physical comfort, since if your visitors find your site uncomfortable to look at, they will go elsewhere quickly.