Using Color Psychology in Your Website and Marketing

**How to Use the Psychology of Color in Your Website and Marketing**

Color has a tremendous effect on the behaviors of your webpage visitors, and we need to take a look at how we can better use this in our marketing. Rather than just think of it as some sort of NLP, or mumbo-jumbo, we should take a good look at the data available and then begin to test what this means for our particular audience.

The ability to evoke responses based on the colors we choose for our marketing is a vastly underused tool. There's a lot of data to sift through, and plenty of choices to make regarding color psychology for sites, logos, marketing materials and more.

The basics of color psychology

It starts with a surprising truism: the favorite color for both men and women is blue. That's where the similarities end, however. Some of the data means multiple things. For instance, green can mean money, the environment, and calm to different people. Reds can signify stop, excitement and boldness, dependant upon whom you're talking to. Brown could mean ruggedness, or suggest a warmth. Women love purple, men detest it. Are you beginning to see the issue here?

So how do you use this information in your marketing?

The best way to succeed with this is by testing for the best responses in your own audience. Each of us have different demographics we work within, and what works for one will not fit all others.

Start by figuring out your own demographics. Who's your audience, or your most desired audience? This will make a difference in regards to testing. Young, old, male, female; it is important.
Whichever colors you choose, make the important parts, especially any calls to action, stand out with the use of a bolder, yet complimentary color.
Color evokes mood, and this needs to be taken into account when deciding how to best convey your message.
Strive to be consistent, and begin by keeping your hyperlinks blue. There is some case for familiarity, and there's no logic in making it harder to get clicks by putting the links in different colors.