Color Theory Fundamentals for Web Design

As you get ready to design your website, you will be faced with the decision to choose colors that your customers will see. It is important that your customers are engaged by the colors you choose and you want to evoke a good feeling within them. If you simply choose two or three colors and put them together without any rhyme or reason, you may actually signal the wrong message.
Studies have shown that customers are more likely to navigate away from a website based on the aesthetics of it. This means that if the website it poorly designed in function and color, customers will leave and go to a different website.
Before you panic, we will cover many of the basics to help you choose the right colors and pairs of colors for your website.
How Does Color Affect the Success of Web Design?
Colors affect the success of web design in a couple of different ways. Studies have shown that consumers leave websites that do not appeal visually to them and studies have also shown that customers will make a purchasing decision based on the color of a product alone.
This means that customers’ behaviors are influenced by the colors they see. If you have a time-sensitive product that needs to sell, you need to create that sense of urgency to the customer and colors can help you do that.
One of the good things about colors is that your customer does not have to actively think about what emotion coincides with the color. In fact, this is done in your subconscious.
Okay, let’s take a look at some color basics to help you better understand how colors affect your website, sales, and customers’ habits.
Basics of Colors for Starters
If you have never worked with colors before, you are in for a treat. You should take some time to play around with the colors and blend different shades together to see how they work and look when combined.
Once you have a good grasp on it, you should start to think about a color scheme for your website. For example, you want to choose a dominant color that will be the main color for your website. Often times, people will choose a color that represents what the brand is about of a color that signals to the brand. For instance, if the brand has to do with nature, you may choose green as your base dominant color.
Once you have that base color, you want to avoid simply adding other colors to it because you may end up with a mess of colors that each overpower each other. The next step in the process is to look at the different color schemes to help enhance and add to the base color you chose.
Color Harmonies and Their Schemes
There are a number of color schemes and color harmonies that blend together on the color wheel and each level of the scheme matches together different colors to provide you with the best match.
1. Complementary Colors

image courtesy : springleafstudios.com
2. Analogous Colors

image courtesy zzhouyying.blogspot.in

image source: http://power.arc.losrios.edu/~worsfob/Web/colors.html
3. Triadic Colors

image source: fannit.com
4. Split-Complementary Colors

image source: modernmancollection.com
5. Square Colors

image source: interior-design-it-yourself.com
Your “Call to Action” Button and Its Color
The call to action button is an important button on your website because it urges your customer to do something whether it is to receive a quote or call your company. Since we have discussed colors, it is important to understand that call to action needs to be in a specific color too. If you simply have a call to action that blends in with the color of your website, people will skip over it. You need your call to action to stick out, pack a punch, and do what it was intended to do.
There are three colors that you need to consider for your call to action button and those three colors are red, orange, and blue. Let’s take a look at each color and its significance in this role.
Red Call to Action

image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/403676-Tedx-CreativeCoast-makeover
Orange Call to Action

Image Source:
noupe.com/design/the-secrets-behind-great-call-to-action-buttons.html
When you have a customer who feels happy, they will make a purchase, and the happier they feel, the more they purchase.
Blue Call to Action

image source: noupe.com/design/the-secrets-behind-great-call-to-action-buttons.html
While those are three of the best call to action colors, there are three that you want to avoid at all costs and those colors are white, black, and brown.
How to Use Negative Space to Your Advantage

The negative space in google’s design helps the user focus on the main feature of the website – to search
Negative space is the white space around the content on your website. This space is not always white and can be any color. This space is important on your website because it keeps your media, text, and links separated and it helps to guide your customers’ eyes right where you want them to go.
When it comes down to the negative space on your website, you should choose a color scheme and then use complementary colors to color in the negative space. This way, you have your base color, secondary colors, and tertiary colors and they all match.
On a final note, you do not want to simply choose colors for your website color scheme because you think they look good together. In fact, this can turn customers away, especially if they do not feel the same way. You need to have a balance of vibrant colors and soft colors.
Remember, if your website is mashed full of information, blinding colors, and links, people will leave your site and look for one that is aesthetically pleasing to their eye and does not cause them confusion.