Colorful Selling
Eye-catching
What catches your eye?
The answers to that question will be different for everyone, but most people can list color as one of them.
There have been tons of studies centered around color psychology and how it affects people’s moods and buying habits.
I’m not going to talk about all the different colors or when and where they should be used. Instead, I just want to take a look at color in general, and how it can help you improve your business on all fronts. Actually, info-graphs are a great example of this.
When I’m researching I click through different web pages and articles looking for some condensed pieces of information to quote and sometimes I’m met with a bright, colorful info-graphic. When that happens I usually end up spending a lot more time on that blog than I was planning.
Why?
Because it got my attention. That’s why businesses use infographics and pictures in the first place.
So, let’s get coloring!
Where to apply color and why
Your color scheme
Before you start taking that metaphorical paintbrush and slapping color on your website there are a few things to consider…
What colors (I know you have at least two) are already in use on your website?
How are those colors being used?
How will bringing in new colors impact your current layout and color scheme?
The first thing we want color to do is to highlight your main message; for illustration purposes, I’m going to use my own website as an example.
On my home page, you’ll find four brightly colored craft and hobby-related pictures on either side of my main message. The rest of my website (aside from my other pictures) has a gold, light brown, and dark brown theme: three colors, that’s it. Make sure your website only has two or three main colors, because having more than that just won’t look good.
When you pick your main colors you need to make sure they go well with your business, and if there are colors already associated with your brand go ahead and just use those.
As far as where those colors go on the page, that's up to you, but whatever you do make sure the background where you have your main text is left white. While a dark background with white main text might make your website look more original, it’s also harder to read.
Now let’s look at the last aspect of color I’m addressing…
Pictures
Pictures are a must on every site, even if it’s just a three-page personal website with one picture on the home page. Here are the four types of pictures you should be using on your website...
At least one picture of yourself or your team
Product or service related pictures
Your logo
Thumbnails
You want the person viewing your website to see a picture of the person (or group) they’re buying from because it feels like they’re buying from people instead of some random website. There’s just something about being able to see someone’s face that establishes trust with your buyer.
I don’t think product and service-related pictures need much further explaining; I’ve never seen a website that didn’t have pictures with their product descriptions. The logo on the other hand may need an explanation.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen websites that don’t put a real logo up. It’s worth a couple of bucks to get a nice logo so you look professional, and of course, make sure to put your logo in the top left-hand corner (it’s the standard, so people expect it).
If your website doesn’t have a blog of some kind, then you probably won’t have to worry much about thumbnails. If you do have a blog make sure you have a nice related picture to put in your thumbnail to make your posts more appealing to visitors.
Now, you can easily go overboard with pictures and have “color clutter”. The reason pictures are helpful is because they stand out, so having too many defeats the purpose.
So in closing, your website should have…
Two or three main colors
White background with black text
Your logo in the top left-hand corner
At least one picture of you or your team
Pictures of your product or service
A thumbnail for each blog post
No “color clutter”. Don’t overdo it with the pictures
Follow those guidelines and you’ll have a much more attractive, profitable website.