Choosing Great Website Colors...

[MJ DeMarco]

Designing a website? Or having it outsourced?

Ever wonder which colors are best to use for your website or logo?

Aside from general readability, the best color choices often depends on your service/product and what you are trying to communicate.

A website for teen girls would might not work using orange and black. Try pink.
A website for financial advice might not work using red. (Red = Losses!) Try green.

Here is a great list of colors and what they implicitly might convey to your users.

http://iit.bloomu.edu/vthc/Design/psychology.htm

 

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[Merkin Man]

Solid.

I was surprised to see how closely my opinions of colors and their representations agreed with these. Great find.

 

[Andrew]

Total baloney. Converting designs and aesthetic design are very different.

For example, I consider myself a very competent graphic designer and artist. I am an expert user with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I can paint very realistic portraits of people by hand. Not really something to brag about, but its one of the few things I'm good at.

The designs I use for websites that bring in ----- a lot of money a month are extremely plain, use a black & white or black, red, & white color scheme, and often look like piss.

Look up PlentyofFish.com too. The owner doesn't know anything about design but is #1 in Canada & the UK, #2 in the US. Looked even worse a year ago.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Total baloney.

And proper spelling is is overrated.

The link was about picking good colors (and avoiding bad ones) which best match your target market -- doing so helps maximize your conversion. "I'm making tons of money" doesn't mean you are maximizing your conversion ratio. I made tons of money on poor conversion for years before "conversion" was even in the vernacular - that doesn't mean I was optimized in the right scheme.

I've made simple color changes to my sites and saw conversion increase.

Color can add or subtract to your conversion because it is integral to the UI. It pays to know which schemes are best converting and to say its irrelevant is shocking especially from a web guy like you.

Sites like CL and POF are successful due to simplicity and UI -- I wonder how well these sites would have done with a bright red background and black text. Probably not too well. I wonder if the young gal from WhateverLife would have appealed to her market using green and red. Probably not.

Safe colors (black and white) are safe bets and sometimes the better choice. Sometimes no color is the best color.

Bottomline, if within 2 seconds your user doesn't vibe with the scheme of your site, they hit "Back". The right color is as important as any other UI decision and to ignore it or say "baloney, it isn't important" is like directing a portion of your users directly to their "Back" button.

 

[Andrew]

Right.. but the good color choices are based off of simplicity not because of psychological factors an art teacher says they are associated with. And yes, I run tests to maximize my conversion ratios. Time and time again, basic straight forward designs have worked best for me, black text, white background, standard blue links.

I'm not saying colors aren't important. Just that these design issues are overblown and simplicity wins. Of course still split test the designs & color schemes.

Bright red background and black text doesn't work because its not simple -- it is physically tiring just to read it. I don't need a graphic design teacher to tell me that. But hell, may be in some unique situations it does work.

I've discussed this with a business owner that runs a site bringing in upper 8 figures a year. White background wins. The other color variations are determined by split testing alone. You can run a multi variate test if there are many variables.

Start as basic as possible & split test the rest. Don't use book smarts to determine what is correct and what isn't. Thats just my opinion, may be I am completely wrong about this. Everyone should do what works best for them & the markets they operate in. I'm not trying to pass my self off as an all knowing expert here, I've certainly been wrong many, many times.

As for baloney, it can be spelled two ways: http://www.answers.com/baloney

 

[kurtyordy]

As for baloney, it can be spelled two ways: http://www.answers.com/baloney

yes but it is slang. Just like the folks who say irregardless. You will find it the dictionary, but it is not proper.

 

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[Merkin Man]

yes but it is slang. Just like the folks who say irregardless. You will find it the dictionary, but it is not proper.

OMG, you didn't just mention irregardless, did you?

Possibly the worst "word" I have ever heard in my life. I seriously get angry when I hear people use it.

:greenchainsaw:

Yup, the green guy just said irregardless!!!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Andrew,

I agree with everything you are saying here and I certainly aren't saying to stick with a color because an art teacher says so. Absolutely split test your website.

I'm saying that color plays an important role in conversion and brand image.

For example, RussH owns a B&B in Napa Valley. I can tell you that a website with a mix of black / purple and burgundy would probably work better than standard simple black and white. This is simply getting into the mindset of the consumer -- Russ's target market is affluent people in wine country and his goal would be to tap into their mindset to set off an action or thought process "Wow, this is a nice site, I'm going to call and make a reservation"

People visiting Russ's B&B in Wine Country are looking for an experience ... the website should communicate an ambiance, an emotional feeling that propels them to act further. I'm not sure B&W will do as good of a job.

Likewise, if I was promoting a new energy drink and creating a brand around it -- B&W would be not be my first choice to use. Only the variate testing you mention would steer me into that direction.

Sometimes the conversion goal isn't a sale, but an an emotion that becomes the impetus for another action (Leads, calls, sign-ups, etc.)

For a classified ad site like CL, B&W works because the marketspace's motivations are heavily segmented - its impossible to design for any one group. For sites highly focused on sales, I'd easily say that B&W schemes (simple) are indeed the best. But for sites where brand image (Lambo, Four Seasons, Molina) and emotions come into play, B&W most likely will come up short.

Simplicity, yes .... very important. But don't forget about color.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

OMG, you didn't just mention irregardless, did you?

Possibly the worst "word" I have ever heard in my life. I seriously get angry when I hear people use it.

:greenchainsaw:

Yup, the green guy just said irregardless!!!

Whats the deal with this? This is like the 50th person that has said they hate this word. I don't get it? Its just as bad as ALOT (no "A LOT") or FOR ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES (No! Its "for all intents and purposes!")

 

[Merkin Man]

Whats the deal with this? This is like the 50th person that has said they hate this word. I don't get it? Its just as bad as ALOT (no "A LOT") or FOR ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES (No! Its "for all intents and purposes!")

Prepare For Andy's Rant...........:rant:

I think with me my biggest objection to the use of Irregardless (and For All Intensive Purposes, now that you had to go and mention it!!!) is that it displays the stupidity of people, and frankly, it irritates me.

And I don't mean that to be disrespectful or mean (and my apologies if I do). Instead, it is because I am disappointed and embarrassed for the intelligence our society so greatly lacks.

These are the same people who will vote for our next president based upon if he/she seems like a cool guy/girl to have a beer with, not the person's political stance and how it fits with their own. The same people, for that matter, whose only understanding of the political system is what they watched on the West Wing. ullhair:

I don't mean to get political here - these are just two quick examples of why I am bothered when I hear these words. I don't want to completely hijack this thread and ... :beatdeadhorse5:

The next time somebody uses one of these slangs, pause, look them in the eye, and ask them a question about politics, or any current event that is news-worthy. Four words and an "irregardless" into their response, I'll bet you more often than not you will be ready to walk away and not hear the rest!

Sorry about the hijack and rant...Back to topic!!! :coffee:

 

[Russ H]

MJ-

I hate irregardless as well. Mostly because "regardless" is a negative, so "ir-regardless" is a negative of a negative (kinda like "I couldn't have cared less", which is often stated incorrectly as "I could've cared less").

IRREGARDLESS! IRREGARDLESS! IRREGARDLESS!

(sorry, I just wanted to see Merkin Man twitching and making funny strangled noises) :smx4:

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I don't like irregardless is I hear it on radio and TV-- for pretaped interviews, broadcasters are not blipping out the "ir" (which would be *so* easy to do).

Kinda like "I ess-pect him to be here" or "Did he ex-cape?" (both mispronuciations that could be easily corrected).

Wanna hear the worst? Once upon a time, I used the word "irregardless"-- made me feel important (no, not impotent-- important)-- since I didn't hear that many people use the word (D'oh!).

Truth is, I think I was confusing it with the word "irrespective"-- which can be interchanged with "regardless" sometimes, depending on context.

***************************

Bottom line, I'm a writer. I love words. I care about how they're used.

That's why I notice this stuff.

-Russ H.

PS Where were we? Something about colors . . . ? (we need a train derail icon for when threads get off track!)

 

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[Russ H]

Back on track:

When we took over the Inn, the website's colors were peach and blue (to match the color scheme of the house).

We repainted the house, and re-did the colors on the website:

Gold/Yellow and Dark Green.

We're in the midst of a redesign, but will keep these colors, in large part because we're not interested in max # of conversions, but in guests who LOVE staying at our inn.

And since the color change, we've had such cool guests that even local maitre d's have called us to ask how we find these people (Our answer: They find us!).

We have had our website redone, but it looks the same as it did before the re-do. Only difference is we now have better meta tags and MUCH better metrics for measuring those who look, and those who book.

We've been making small changes, here and there, and seeing how it affects not just click through rates and bookings, but the QUALITY of our guests.

Goal is to increase bookings without losing the awesome character traits of the guests we're getting.

We're just starting on this process-- in about 2-3 years, I'll have more info on what has worked, and what has NOT.

Great thought provoking topic, MJ.

-Russ H.

 

[Merkin Man]

Merkin Man --

You'll appreciate this:

http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html

:smilielol:

That article is fantastic. And quite visually stimulating :smxB:

 

[Merkin Man]

And since the color change, we've had such cool guests that even local maitre d's have called us to ask how we find these people (Our answer: They find us!).

Thanks for the torture, Russ!

Re: the quote -

I think I read somewhere in the past that you don't do any advertising for your B&B, right? I would assume a lot of your business, then, is repeat guests and new guests you receive from word of mouth from other past guests?