Running an online dating or social networking site is quite a specific kind of business. It is a bit similar to being a restaurant owner - your visitors are attracted by specific cuisine, which is an analogue for your site conception, and of course, by the interior, which stands for your website design. A stylish, colorful template reflecting your site 'mood and spirit' will help you create an atmosphere that will make an occasional visitor stay in your online community for long. Colors and color combination greatly influence a potential customer's behavior.
Remember yourself - how many times you were attracted by a beautiful product package without even knowing what's inside. That's the reason why marketers take much time and trouble studying 'psychology of color' that can help in boosting sales. Color marketing tricks are more than useful for attracting members to your site. Below you will find descriptions of how people tend to react to various colors and color combinations, which will be great assistance for you in deciding on your site appearance.
Black - is a color of strength, power and stability. At the same time it associates with luxury, elegance and classics. It will help you create an atmosphere of secrecy and intimacy on your site. Don't go for too much of black though, as this might be ominous. Dilute it with other colors - black makes them look sharper.
White - is associated with purity and simplicity. It's also a symbol of innocence. White background in a template will not tire the eye, and will let a visitor concentrate on the colorful components you choose for the site design. This color is good for a social network.
Yellow - implies happiness, sunshine, laughter and positive mood. It makes our brain release serotonin also known as a 'happy hormone', which gets us in a cheerful mood. As with any strong color, too much of yellow may be overwhelming. But if you use it in a right amount and place - it will definitely help you attract new members into your online community.
Orange - is a very vibrant and 'lively' color. It is associated with warmness, contentment, excitement and ambition. It has a unique ability to make expensive products seem more affordable. It appeals to a wide range of people regardless of their sex.
Blue - is a favorite color for most of us. Darker shades of blue represent success, stability, wisdom and loyalty. This is why blue is admired by businesses - it symbolizes professionalism. The combination of blue and white will be ideal for a business network. Paler shades of blue instill calmness and cleanliness, and are very pleasant to the eye.
Red - is a color of passion, excitement, energy and aggression. It is the first color to draw attention. It stimulates all kinds of appetite, so you simply can't go without it if you are running an adult dating site.
Green - is associated with nature and health. This color also traditionally symbolizes peace, calmness and harmony. If you are building a website about health or self-perfection - lighter shades of green is just what you need. Dark forest green color stands for masculinity and wealth (money). All shades of green are pleasing to the senses.
Grey - instills solidity and conservative qualities. When there's too much grey on the website - it will definitely look boring. But adding just a few grey components will give your site a respectable and trustworthy look essential for a business network. For a company representing high tech using silver color (which is a shade of grey) will be a great idea.
Golden - is definitely a color of wealth and luxury. Golden components will give your site design a classy and festive eye-catching look.
Unless you are going to just paint the walls in your room, knowing a single color psychological impact is not sufficient. Designing your website template you have to take into account the principles of color combination based on the chromatic circle (also known as the 'color wheel'). If interested - you can find loads of color wheel samples on the Internet.
Below you will find a few color combination schemes. Applying them will help you make your site look harmonious and professional.
Monochromatic color scheme - is based on using colors from one color segment (for example, darker and lighter shades of green). Such design will look pleasant to the eye, clean, and integral.
Complimentary color scheme - implies using colors that stand oppositely to each other on the color wheel. Combining warm and cold colors results in fresh and lively site look that draws attention. One of the good examples is a combination of lime-green and pink.
Triple color scheme - suggests combining three colors equally spaced from each other on the chromatic circle. For instance, such colors as blue, red and yellow go unexpectedly well together in a website design.
Analogue color scheme - is based on using three neighboring color segments, which will make a template look colorful, stylish and harmonious at the same time.
Following these simple tricks of color marketing, and giving proper attention to principles of harmony and good taste you will be able to give your site a look that is professional and unique. People always judge by the cover, so choosing a template is as important as choosing a domain name, which is going to be your website's brand.
