Increasing Website Conversions With Color Psychology Applications [Infographic]

A couple of months ago, I found a perfect pair of shoes on Pinterest and immediately hurried to check out the store’s website. The shoes were absolutely fabulous, so I wanted to make sure the fit was right before buying. Once I entered the store, however, my mood quickly changed for the worse, and my hardwired enthusiasm for shoe shopping was all of a sudden nowhere to be found. After quickly trying on the shoes, I left the store without buying anything. This was totally out of my character, so I racked my brain: what in the world had just happened?

And then it suddenly dawned on me: I realized that the color of the store’s walls was the problem! The dark color of the walls instantly put me in a bad mood and off the shoe shopping (the horror!). The funny thing was that the color of the shoe store’s website was totally inviting and it almost made me buy my beloved pair of shoes without trying them on. How weird is that?

At the end, I bought the shoes online and all was well in the world. I couldn’t, however, stop thinking about the power of colors and their influence on buyers’ decisions, so I shared this experience with a marketing strategist friend of mine who confirmed my hypothesis about colors used in stores.

The Impact Of Colors In Marketing

In the world of marketing, color is regarded as crucial. This is why the ability to understand color psychology is one of the most powerful tools a business owner can have. Colors are used to capture the attention of customers and improve the user experience. In online marketing, different colors play a huge role in determining whether a visitor will enjoy their experience while browsing through a website or quickly leave without making a purchase.

Recent studies indicate that certain colors can trigger a whole spectrum of emotions and behaviors associated with purchasing. Having an understanding of the role that colors can play in creating harmonious visual presentations on a website can increase conversion rates.

Consumer Color Preferences

Different categories of consumers are attracted to different colors. For example, impulsive buyers are more likely to be drawn to royal blue, black, and red-orange. This is the reason why these particular color schemes are so often used in clearance sales, fast food restaurants, and outlet malls where impulse buying is rampant.

Budget-conscious shoppers are drawn to navy blue and teal. These are colors that are commonly used by banks and larger department stores.

The traditional buyer is more likely to take an interest in colors such as pink, rose, and sky-blue. These are shades that are commonly found in clothing stores.

Gender & Color Preferences

It’s a well-known fact that color preferences vary between genders. Women have been shown to be more interested in soft colors and are receptive to tints. Women typically like colors such as blue, purple, and green, but dislike colors such as gray, brown, and orange. However, men are more likely to be interested in bold colors and will be more receptive to shades of colors. Men typically prefer blue, green, and black, but dislike brown, orange, and purple.

The Color Wheel of Emotions

Every color is capable of triggering a reaction. By using specific colors to elicit desired emotions in buyers, both in-store and online, brands and startups can control whether a consumer will be more interested in making a purchase. Some colors provide more positive results than others when used in the marketing of products and niches. By the same token, using wrong colors can negatively impact buyers’ decision-making process. This is because emotions associated with certain colors can conflict with the ideal imagined hue of the brand.

Red

A traditional color that is known to increase heart rate and create a sense of urgency, which is often why red is used in clearance sales. It is a good color selection for food, technology, transportation and agriculture niches, but can be a bad choice for energy, finance, airplane, or clothing companies because it produces a more adverse effect.

Blue

One of the more popular colors used in sales because it can be viewed by colorblind individuals and is regarded as having a positive impact on everyone. It is the most commonly used colors of many brands and websites on the market. There are many banks and businesses that have used this shade as it communicates security to customers. The color blue encourages feelings of productivity, tranquility, and trust. It is a good color selection for healthcare, energy, finance and technology niches, but it is not recommended for food, car or clothing companies.

Green

Used in stores to help customers relax while they shop. This color is used to promote feelings of growth, nature, and harmony. Green is most popularly used for energy, finance, food, household, and technology niches. However, it doesn’t work well when used for clothing, airplane, or car brands and can provide questionable results when used for healthcare.

Orange

A color that is used to create a call to action such as getting others to commit to buying, selling, or subscribing. It communicates ambition, enthusiasm, and confidence. It is popularly used in healthcare and technology niches but does not work well for niches such as clothing, airplane, car, energy, or finance. This color has been recorded to produce unpredictable results when used for food, household, and agricultural branding.

Black

While technically not a color, is arguably the most elegant of hues. Brands and companies that want to communicate authority, power, or elegance should consider using black. Black is the most popular choice for marketing luxury products and is often used for technology, clothing, and car brands. Due to what it communicates, it doesn’t work well for food, energy, finance, and healthcare niches. Black can have varied results when used for agricultural or household brands.

White & Silver

Can be used to reflect the ideal of perfection. This is why shades of white and silver are commonly employed in advertisements that market cleanliness or classiness. This makes them a popular choice for marketing clothing, cards, charity, or healthcare brands, but it is not recommended for food or finance.

Purple

Commonly used for marketing beauty products because it communicates wealth, power, and royalty. It works well for healthcare, technology, and finance brands but is not as attractive for energy or agricultural brands.

Yellow

The perfect choice for businesses that are seeking to provoke feelings of joy, intellect or energy. This is most commonly associated with food but can be used by brands that want to create more cheerful feelings among viewers. For this reason, it is typically used by household, energy, and food brands.

Colors & Conversion Rates

Every company should aim to develop an understanding of colors and what they represent and implement it into their branding strategy. One of the secrets of increasing conversion rates is the knowledge of colors and their use on websites. 93% of shoppers find that visual aspects are the top influencing factor that determines their purchase decision, and 52% of users will not return to a website at all if they are not pleased with the aesthetics of the site.

The majority of online shoppers will ultimately decide not to purchase from a particular website if they encounter poor website design and poor navigability during their visit. A well-designed, easy to navigate, attractive website is essential for any business that wants to maintain visitors on a regular basis.

When it comes to conversion rates, colors really do matter. Call-to-action button colors that are red, orange or green will provide the best results, but only if these colors stand out from other content on the site. When used correctly these can lead to a 13.5% conversion rate increase in mobile users and boost overall conversion rates by 9%. It can also lead to a 6.5% increase in add-to-cart rates during the site visit.

Noteworthy companies such as BMI, HubSpot, Ript, and VegasSlotsOnline are just a few success stories which prove that changing the colors on call-to-action buttons can lead to a substantial increase in conversion. A competition held by Visual Website Optimizer to determine which call-to-action colors provided the best results, resulted in a red button with white text as the final choice. This button demonstrated at 5% increase in conversion. However, UnBounce later revealed that large orange buttons could also provide similar results when used correctly.

The Bottom Line: Color Matters

Startups that wish to capture the attention of site visitors and ensure an increase in conversion should make an effort to understand the complex relationship between colors and emotions. Choosing a color scheme should not be arbitrary, but informed with the recognition that colors have the power to communicate different feelings and values. In addition to quality website design and responsive features, choosing a selection of aesthetically pleasing colors is essential for any brand that is dedicated to improving user experience and increasing conversion rates.

For more on the power of colors and their use in brand marketing, take a look at the comprehensive infographic below containing 40 incredible facts about the psychology of colors.

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This post was originally published on Skilled.co