Choosing the right colour scheme for your website is more than just randomly picking colours, or opting for tones that you personally love. Picking colours that look good together and that reflect your brand is a strategic decision that can significantly influence user experience, how others view your brand, and even your conversion rates. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of colour scheme in your website design, how it impacts user behaviour, and how to select a colour scheme that complements your brand and UX goals.
The role of colour in user experience (UX)
User experience (UX) is at the core of good website design. A well-designed website isn't just visually appealing, it’s also functional, easy to navigate, and engaging for users. Colour plays a vital role in all of these areas.
Guiding user attention
The right colour choices help guide users to important elements on the page, like calls-to-action (CTAs), navigation links, or important information. Bright, contrasting colours can draw attention to these elements and encourage user interaction. For example, a boldly coloured CTA "Buy Now" button on a muted page stands out and guides users towards making a purchase.
Improving readability
Colour contrast impacts readability, which is critical for a positive user experience and accessibility. Low-contrast text and backgrounds make it difficult for users to read and navigate the site, which can be a real problem, especially for people with visual impairments. High-contrast combinations, such as dark text on a light background, improve readability and make your site more accessible to a broader audience.
Creating emotional responses in a user
Colours are strongly linked to emotions, and influence how users feel while browsing your site. Blue and green shades for instance often create a sense of calm and trust, making them popular for banking, environmental or healthcare websites. On the other hand, colours like orange or red can generate a sense of urgency or excitement, which might be ideal for e-commerce sites during sales promotions. Understanding the emotional impact of colour on the user experience when using a website can help you create a site that resonates with your audience on a deeper level.
The psychology of colour
Colour psychology is the study of how colours affect our behaviour and emotions based on our response to them. Different colours can cause varying emotional responses, so you should choose your website’s colour scheme based on the message you want to convey and how you want your audience to feel. Here are some common colour associations:
Blue: Trust, professionalism and calm. (Ideal for business websites and industries like finance or healthcare).
Red and pink: Excitement, urgency and passion. Great for calls-to-action, promotions, and e-commerce sites with a large sales push.
Green: Growth, health and nature. Works well for wellness brands, eco-friendly businesses, and non-profits.
Yellow: Happiness and creativity, but also caution. Best for creative agencies and brands targeting younger audiences.
Purple: Luxury and creativity. Suitable for luxury brands, beauty products and creative industries.
Black and white: Sophistication and luxury. Often used for minimalist, luxury or high-end fashion websites.
Understanding colour theory for web design
To make informed colour choices, it’s essential to understand the basics of colour theory and how colours interact with each other.
Warm and cool colours
Reds, oranges and yellows evoke energy, excitement and warmth, and are often used for action-oriented elements. Cool tones such as blues, greens and purples are calming and soothing, and often used for backgrounds or larger sections to create a relaxed atmosphere.
When creating a colour scheme for your website, it’s helpful to use common colour combinations that are known to work well together. Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel (such as blue and orange) are great for creating high contrast and CTAs. Colours that are next to each other on the wheel (such as blue, turquoise and green), provide a harmonious, cohesive look.
Monochromatic colour can also be simple and elegant, making it easier to maintain consistency across a website.
Keeping it simple
When it comes to designing a colour scheme, less is more, and simplicity should be a priority. Using too many colours can make a website feel chaotic and overwhelming, which can distract users from why they came to it in the first place. A simpler palette creates a clean, professional look that is easier for users to process.
A great rule of thumb is to pick a primary colour, secondary colour and an accent colour. You can also use tints (lighter versions) and shades (darker versions) of these colours to add depth without introducing too many new hues.
The importance of contrast in UX design
Contrast isn’t just about aesthetic appeal – it’s also about usability and accessibility. High-contrast design ensures that users can easily read text, understand visual elements and interact with your site.
High contrast between your background and text enhances readability, while contrasting colours for elements like CTAs and buttons help them to stand out. For example, a bright orange CTA on a predominantly blue page draws attention immediately and encourages action, as these two colours are opposite one another on the colour wheel.
Web accessibility is an important aspect of UX design. Colour contrast is crucial for users with visual impairments or colour blindness. Tools like using a contrast checker can help ensure your site meets accessibility standards, making it usable for a wider audience.
Integrating your branding into the colour scheme
Your brand’s identity is often tied to specific colours that appear in your logo, marketing materials, and so on. When designing your website, it’s important to incorporate these colours for consistency. A consistent colour scheme across all platforms reinforces brand recognition and helps build trust with your audience.
However, if your existing brand colours don't translate well to digital (for example, they lack contrast, or don’t work well together on-screen), you may need to adapt them. Small adjustments, like tweaking saturation or brightness, can maintain brand integrity while optimising for the web.
Cultural considerations
If your website serves an international audience, be mindful of cultural differences in colour perception. Colours that work well in one country may carry different meanings in another.
For example, in Western cultures, white symbolises, simplicity, luxury, as well as purity and weddings, but in some Eastern cultures, it’s associated with mourning. Red is another colour with different meanings. It's considered lucky and is often used in celebrations in Eastern countries, while in Western ones, it can signify danger or urgency.
The takeaway
When choosing a colour scheme it's important that it resonates with your audience, and aligns with your target demographic’s preferences and emotions. Use your brand colours as a foundation, but don’t be afraid to adapt them for the web.
Ensure that key elements like CTAs stand out and your content is easy to read. Use high-contrast colour combinations to make your site inclusive for all users.
Keep it simple. A minimal, well-organised palette creates a professional and easy-to-navigate user experience. Take the time to experiment with colour combinations, test their impact on usability, and make adjustments to ensure that your website looks great and performs even better.
