Learn How to Increase Website Conversions Using Colour Psychology

There’s more to website colours than just picking ones you like. In fact, the very colours you use (or don’t use) can help increase your website conversions. Let's enter the world of colour psychology...

What is Colour Psychology?

Colour psychology is all about how we react to different colours. Each colour guides us towards feeling a certain way or do a certain action. Different colours mean different things to people, with our culture, religion and past experiences playing an impact on this. Here’s a quick look at how some colours make us feel:

• Green – comforted, happy

• Red – excited, desirable

• Yellow – stimulated, cheerful

• Blue – professional, optimistic

• Purple – powerful, reliable

Colour Tips to Increase Website Conversions

There is no ‘perfect colour’ for a website, but you can do your best to nail some down. It all boils down to knowing your target market well. Say you sell cosmetics via your website. With women being your main audience, shouldn’t your website use a lot of pink? Actually, no. Research has shown that only a small minority of women claim pink is their favourite colour. While the colour pink does look pretty, if it doesn’t sit well with your audience, it won’t encourage sales.

That means you need to look carefully at your audience. Even interview them if necessary. Find out their colour preferences and what looks best to them. Remember though, that you still need to work with the colours within your brand, such as your logo. If you find that your customers prefer other colours, you could even change your brand colours.

When choosing your website colours, consider that research says:

• Men tend to like the colours blue, green and black. They often dislike brown, orange and purple.

• Women tend to prefer the colours blue, purple and green. They often dislike orange, brown and grey.

• Blue helps to evoke feelings of trust and stability.

• Yellow can cause people to feel threatened, as it is a colour used in warning signs - think Covid signage

• Green brings forth feelings of peace, nature, the environment and creativity.

• Orange creates urgency, which encourages people to act on impulse.

• Black portrays luxury and good value.

• A younger audience prefers brighter colours, while older audiences show a clear preference to the colour blue.

• Colour meaning differs between countries. If you are targeting China, white is a colour of mourning, not purity. While in Brazil, purple is a funeral colour, not a regal one.

For more information about choosing your website colours, please refer to our article How to Choose a Colour Scheme for Your Website. If you need help picking your colours, we recommend you check out our favourite service providers.