How Do I Choose the Colors for My Website?

The right colors can strengthen your brand identity, attract users' attention, and motivate customers. So, how do you go about setting up a color palette?
Barbora Růžičková • Web Designer •
Barbora Růžičková • Web Design
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✏️ 04. 11. 2024 • Updated 13. 11. 2024
✏️ 04. 11. 2024 • Updated 13. 11. 2024
✏️ 04. 11. 2024
Updated 13. 11. 2024
Barbora Růžičková • Web Designer
branding
design
website development
Jak vybrat barvy na web

So you’re thinking about getting yourself a website – congratulations! And then your web developer asks: ‘So, what are your brand colors?’

And your heart sinks. You don’t have anything in mind… yet. How exactly do you choose the colors for your website? Maybe you could just figure them out later?

As tempting as this may sound, it’s much better to have a color palette ready before starting any visual work on your business. The colors you choose for your website are called ‘brand colors’ and are more important than you may think. They shape the way your customers see your brand and have a say in the relationship between them. The right colors can bring out the right emotions – and even encourage leads to buy!

In this article, we’ll dive into the basics of using colors on the web, explore popular color schemes and take a look at color psychology. I’ve also included a couple of handy resources that will help you with selecting your colors, creating a brand palette that represents both your business and yourself.

What Are Brand Colors and Why Are They Important?

Brand colors are a set of colors that represent your company. You use them consistently across all communication channels: on your website, in your social media posts, and in print materials such as posters. These colors express your brand’s philosophy, culture, identity and values, and significantly impact how your target audience sees your business.

Who Chooses Website Colors?

If you don’t feel like picking your brand colors yourself, you can hire a graphic designer who specializes in brand and visual identity. They’ll work with you to create a ‘brand manual’ (sometimes called a ‘brand book’) – a guide that tells you what your website, print materials, social media etc. should actually look like. Professional brand manuals are amazing and anyone you’ll work with in the future (such as a website designer or a social media content creator) will absolutely love you for having one. The downside, of course, is that they come with a price tag.

You can also do some basic branding with your website designer. Most web designers are visual people and will be happy to help (including myself – I call this type of work ‘microbranding’ and do it a lot).

Finally, you can always choose your website colors yourself. Since you’re reading this article, I’m guessing the thought has crossed your mind 🙂 . If so, great – you’re in the right place!

No matter which option you choose, one thing is crucial: as the person behind your brand, you need to actually like your brand colors. If you don’t, just keep looking. You’ll find the right fit sooner or later.

Color palette examples generated by Coolors

How Many Colors Do I Need for a Website?

If you’re working with a graphic designer, they’ll probably set up a complete brand palette for you, including primary, secondary and neutral colors. They’ll generally also include the specific color tones according to the Pantone color chart. This is super useful for print materials, such as posters or flyers.

On the Internet, however, you don’t need that many colors. Personally, I tend to use only 2–3 colors per website:

  • 1–2 main colors that represent the brand
  • 1 contrasting color that complements the main colors and stands out

How Are Brand Colors Used in Web Design?

In website design, brand colors connect the different pages, sections and design elements – essentially, they keep reassuring you, the visitor, that you’re still on the same website.

Main colors generally highlight important sections and can be used in the header or the hero (intro) part of the website. The contrasting color is then used to draw the user’s attention to specific places – generally to CTA (call-to-action) buttons and elements. These are the buttons you want a potential customer to click (you know, like ‘Order Now!’).

Screenshot of the Odyssey website, a business mentor database.
The purple button on the website of the Odyssey organization stands out – and invites action

How Do I Choose My Brand Colors?

So, you’ve decided to start a business and change the world with your idea (yay!). You’re ready to launch your website, write a newsletter and roll out some Instagram posts. But what color should those posts actually be? Where do you even begin? You can start by asking yourself a few questions.

Color Psychology: What Mood Should Your Brand Evoke?

Think about what you want your brand to feel like. A healthcare provider, for example, might benefit from cool, calming colors like blue or green. A children’s playroom, on the other hand, might use vibrant, bright colors like red or orange.

Color psychology tells us that colors can affect our emotions. Different colors evoke different moods and – as a result – influence how users interact with a website:

Warm colors (red, orange, yellow) evoke passion and enthusiasm. If you’re looking for a dynamic feel, go for a warm color.

Cool colors (blue, green, purple) have a calming effect and are associated with trust and professionalism. Want a website that oozes ‘serious’ and ‘reliable’? Go for a cool color.

Here’s a quick overview of some commonly used colors and their symbolism:

  • Red: Energy, urgency, excitement. Often used for sales or special offers.
  • Blue: Trust, reliability, calm. Commonly used by tech companies, financial institutions, and healthcare facilities.
  • Green: Nature, growth, health, harmony. Popular in sustainability, self-care, or finance industries.
  • Yellow: Optimism, brightness, warmth. Used by brands that want to evoke cheerfulness or positivity.
  • Black: Sophistication, power, luxury. Common in fashion and tech industries.
  • Purple: Creativity, luxury, wisdom. Used by brands that want to stand out or appear exclusive.
  • Orange: Enthusiasm, confidence, energy. Appears in brands targeting younger customers or in the food and entertainment industries.

The Mathematical Approach: Use the Color Wheel

The color wheel is a simple tool that shows the relationships between colors and helps you find color palettes. You don’t need to know color theory to use it – tools like Paletton will give you complementary shades for your chosen color automatically. I love Paletton.

Color wheel example. Photo by freepik.com

Get Inspired by Images or Existing Palettes

If you have photos – or maybe even a logo – you can base your color palette on them. Or you can use online tools (see below) to generate color palette suggestions and adjust these as needed.

What to Watch Out for When Choosing Colors

Colors and Stereotypes

Remember that some colors or color combinations can carry unintended messages for certain groups of people. Think about your target audience. What will they feel when they see your colors? The color white, for example, is a symbol of purity in the Western culture, but a traditional color of mourning in Asia.

For instance, I generally advise against using red for buttons. Since the early days of computing, red buttons have been associated with danger and caution – definitely not what you want for your ‘Buy Now!’ links.

Don’t Overuse Bright Colors

Bright, bold colors like neon yellow or vivid green definitely grab attention and are hard to forget. Use them sparingly, though, and only where appropriate (buttons are a great place). One or two bright colors are enough. Using too many can overwhelm your visitors and visually clutter up your website.

Also, tread carefully with gold and silver. While using both in the same design can give it a luxurious feel, it’s better to choose just one. It’s best to pair gold or silver with neutral tones and use them as accent colors within your main color scheme.

Check Out The Colors Of Your Competitors

Colors that are too similar to those of another brand in the same industry (like your competitors) can confuse customers. Make sure your color scheme is distinct enough to stand out.

Paletton, color palette generator based on the color wheel

Top 5 Color Selection Tools

Still finding it tricky? Don’t worry! There are plenty of online tools to help you overcome decision paralysis and get started. Here are my five favorites:

1. Coolors
Quick and easy color palette generation at a tap. You can test out different color combinations side to side. I’ve honestly yet to meet a designer who doesn’t use Coolors. You can also get inspired by community palettes and search by themes.

2. Paletton
A color palette generator based on color theory. Pick a color and get a set of complementary colors based on the color wheel. This is probably my favorite tool.

3. Canva Color Palette Generator
Upload a picture, and Canva’s graphic tool will automatically generate a palette based on its colors. Quick and easy.

4. ColorSpace
Enter one color, and the tool will prepare a whole set of harmonized palettes. This is perfect if you have one color you really want to use and want to see how it will look in different combinations.

5. Realtime Colors
A tool that allows you to see your colors on an actual website.

Your Brand Colors Grow with You

Your brand colors are not set in stone. Companies grow, change services and rebrand. Whenever that happens, revisit your brand colors (and visual identity) and see if it may be time for a change.

Choosing the right color scheme is crucial for successful web design. The right combination of colors can strengthen your brand identity, attract users’ attention, and motivate customers.

And that’s exactly why you’re getting a website in the first place, right?

Happy designing!

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