The psychology of colour in website design

As more and more research is being done on the psychology of colour, website design and development managers are taking note, understanding that these results can have a real impact on website performance. Despite the lack of objective understanding of exactly how the psychology of colour works, combined with its somewhat subjective influence on people, affecting individuals to different extents, it’s still worth knowing about the fundamentals and how these can be used to improve your website performance.

What is the psychology of colour?

The psychology of colour is the understanding that colour provokes a reaction in people. This reaction depends upon the colour used, but it is found to be innate and inherent. As such, this means that by using a certain colour in a certain way, you are able to provoke certain reactions, thoughts or feelings in the viewer, and as such are able to influence them to do certain things.

How does this benefit my website performance?

By using the psychology of colour, you can instil certain reactions and emotions in the end user. For example, research has shown that pastel green is commonly associated with healing and nurturing, so if used in conjunction with a therapy website, the end user is more likely to associate the website, company, brand, and content with a feeling of healing, thus making them more likely to trust the band and use its services.

Therefore, if you understand the thoughts and feelings you wish your users to have, you can use the psychology of colour to create these reactions through the use of your website’s colour schemes and images used. While the specifics are yet to be fully documented by psychologists, most studies have shown that bright, bold and vivid colours are associated with danger and hazards, and thus should be avoided if possible, especially for any ecommerce sites which are trying to promote the security and safety of their products.

At Excalibur Digital, we pride ourselves on providing top quality website consultancy advice to businesses of any size across all industries. For more information about the services we provide, please contact us for a free consultation.