Like anything else in this world, presentation means everything. There is probably nothing worse than visiting a site that not only fails to grasp this concept, but also completely throws out all the rules of design and causes an immediate ache behind your eyes. Color is everything. Color has the ability to invoke certain emotions. This means that using the wrong color—or waaaay too much color—can drive a potential customer in the wrong direction.
First, understand that color theory can be a tricky thing to get a good grasp on. You have to consider everything, from tint to hue to value and saturation and more.
Moreover, a good color emotional response has to do with all of the color on your site—the background hues, the color of your text—everything. Choose wisely when you choose a color to get the color emotional response you are looking for.
The most important tenant of color emotional response is to choose colors for your audience. You want colors that will appeal to your audience in an emotional way. For example, if you are selling flowers on your site, choose greens, reds and yellows, which are similar to the color of many flowers. If you are going with an outdoors product, then light blues, deep tans and greens would be best as these colors reflect the natural environment you are playing on for your product. This is the best reflection of color emotional response. Using color to target your audience will not only help them feel at home on your site, but will also help them to be more inclined to purchase the product or service you are touting.
Also, remember not to overdo it. While there are many people out there who enjoy working with bright, bold colors, most people don’t want to have to sit in front of these colors on their computer screen. Tone it down a bit. For example, if you want your site to reflect the strength and aggressiveness of a color like red, it’s fine to use it, but tone it down from a true red to make it a bit softer. This will save your viewer’s vision and make them want to stay on your site longer.
