Picking The Right Colors For Your Website Or Blog

Importance of Color

As soon as someone lands on your homepage, blog, or landing page they will instantly form opinions and react to what colors your site is displaying.  This can be the difference between someone staying and reading your site or someone quickly hitting the back button in no time.  Color should be an important decision when designing your site.  Having a nice color combination can be warm and inviting, just as having a horribly clashing color combination can scare off readers before they read a single word.  Color is a factor to consider.
Consider What Message Each Color Portrays

• Blue - (most popular) suggests honesty, trustworthiness, calming, and loyalty.
• Black - displays authority, sophistication, power, elegance, and technical prowess.
• White - symbolizes purity, peace, and youth: neutral and clean.
• Red - excites with passion, energy, and excitement.
• Pink - suggests innocence, softness, and sweetness.
• Green - invites feelings of nature, growth, and regeneration.
• Dark Green - implies wealth and conservatism.
• Yellow - is optimistic and cheery, yet can come across as too dominating if overused.
• Purple - is associated with wealth, sophistication; and mystical, spiritual tones.
• Brown - is genuine, although it often emotes sadness.
• Orange - conveys happiness, freedom, creativity, playfulness, and confidence.
• Gold - as you would expect, suggests expensive taste as well as prestige.
• Silver - also emotes prestige but is cold and more scientific.
• Gray - has a more corporate, somber, and practical appeal.

*Chart taken from the book Web Marketing All-In-One For Dummies by John Arnold, et al.

Do the colors on your site reflect or contradict the message you are trying to send?