Did you know that a color can change how someone perceives your company and the products or services that you offer? As humans, we are visually-driven creatures and colors can play a big role in altering our moods and our perceptions; this is why you will typically see the walls of hospitals painted in muted, calming colors versus bright reds or jarring neons. Colors can alter our moods drastically and, if the right colors are chosen for your business, said colors can do more than make a website or product look nice — they can lead to conversions.

What Is Color Psychology? 

Color psychology explains how color can affect human behavior. In terms of how a customer feels about a product, the time it takes for a customer to form an opinion on that product is around 90 seconds. The color of the product accounts for two-thirds of that particular interaction. In a nutshell: color choice matters.

How to Use Color Psychology

Implementing the psychology of color into your overall website design requires research and introspection. What kinds of products or services do you offer? If you are a company that specializes in wooden toys for children, for example, steering clear of a black website background is a good idea. The use of color psychology works if you understand your audience.

What Colors Should You Use?

Blue – Do you need to make your audience trust you? Blue cultivates trust and is a calming and serene color. There is a reason why Facebook’s color palette is white and blue.

Yellow – Do you want to elicit a feeling of playfulness? Color psychologists note that the color yellow brings about feelings of happiness and stimulates the excitement center of the brain.

Green – Are you a company that sells outdoor products or deals with the environment in some way? Green is your best friend. In addition to being related to nature, green is a great call to action color and has been shown to increase creativity.

Black – If you are a luxury brand or deal with high-end products, black screams elegance.

White – There is something to be said for white space. If designed correctly the use of white space can add a certain minimalistic sophistication to a landing page.

Orange – Orange is fun and has been shown to increase confidence and stimulate competition; this is why you will see orange used on gym and personal training websites. Orange is also the color of “impulse.” A lot of limited time offers will typically be advertised on an orange banner.

After you decide on your overall color scheme, it is important that you test it out. If you are torn between a white background and a black background, test both out and see which page leads to more conversions. While color choice is important, be sure that you do not add too many colors to your website. A good rule of thumb is to stick to two or three.

As you can see, color choice is an important part of your overall marketing strategy and it has the ability to bring about whatever mood you need your customer to feel when he or she lands on your website.