Which colour should you use for your brand/website

For some people one of the joys of building their website is deciding on the theme and the right colour and they spend hours trying to get it just right. However, many of us base these decisions on our personal taste and that's not necessarily a good thing.

Colours evoke a range of different responses and so its good to have a basic knowledge of the different affects colours can have. On the following pages you will learn about the major colours, how they can affect people's senses, some of the meanings and suggestions on which colours should be used to promote particular products or services.

Before even deciding the colours for your website you should be asking the following questions, because the answers will have a significant impact on your choices. Colour communicates strong messages but means different things to different people and it’s important that you communicate the right message for your brand, products and/or services. Choosing the wrong colour could have a serious impact on the success of your business.

• Who are your potential visitors?
• What are the demographics of your potential visitors?
• Where are your potential visitors located?
• What are your products and/or services?
• What are the key objectives of the website?

Demographics

It’s important to think about location and whether your potential visitors are coming from a local, regional or global market. Different colours mean different things to different cultures. Check out some of the differences at this international colour guide or Visual Color Symbolism Chart by Culture

Demographics can also have a significant impact on how different colours are viewed. Without wanting to stereotype younger people may enjoy saturated bright colours, but the same saturation may drive older visitors away. Playing around with short term colour trends may be unwise as they quickly go out of fashion and you may neither have the time or resources to be constantly changing the colour scheme of your site.

Famous Brands

In each section you will find some examples of brands associated with the particular colours (including Wealthy Affilite!)