The Color of Money
A quick primer on the ROI of color.
A quick primer on the ROI of color.
Too often color is an afterthought when creating a Web site. The final color palette affects customers and could cost you money. Today, a quick primer on the return on investment (ROI) of color.
Color doesn’t simply look nice. It speaks to the subconscious, evoking meanings, feelings, and moods. It persuades or discourages, influencing buying behavior. Different people actually have different physiologic responses to different colors! And 46 percent determine a site’s credibility based on the visual design’s overall appeal.
Evaluate each of your pages first in grayscale, then in black and white. Make sure the site’s design and layout holds under this manipulation. Looking at the design in full color, emotions may take over and influence how you feel about it. Color should enhance the site’s experience. But because people perceive color in different ways, it cannot define the experience.
See It in Shades of Gray
Gray is a neutral color; neither subject nor object, inner nor outer, tension nor relaxation. Gray feels as though it’s not colored, a demilitarized zone free from stimulus. Gray communicates an element of noninvolvement or concealment. It’s a color that remains uncommitted and uninvolved.
At least 10 percent of your audience has some form of vision impairment that makes it difficult to see a Web site as intended. There’s partial color blindness, in which some color perception is affected (the most common is red-green). There’s total color blindness (pretty rare). And there are those who are partially blind. Even these visitors can enjoy a grayscale design. Without grayscale, they might not be motivated to click through your site. Ten percent is a large number!
Color Only After Grayscale
After approving a grayscale design, choose a color that fits the emotion of your site. Each individual color expresses its own feeling:
Does It Fit Your Message?
Colors embody emotions. They must facilitate the message the site sends. Make sure the Web site’s persuasive objectives can be conveyed in grayscale and the site doesn’t rely on color alone to communicate meaning.
Color can enhance the message, but should not be the message. Know what the design should tell your visitors. Only once the message is articulated in design should color be allowed to improve the message.
Every pixel and word on your Web site should be carefully thought out. Color is too important a variable in the persuasion process to take lightly. Color your site persuasively.