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Whenever you’re creating a website, choosing colors randomly often leads to disaster. Webdesign may not be as traditional as painting, but it is an art nonetheless and like all types of art, it requires a lot of careful study. There are several things that you have to consider before selecting final colors for your website.

If you’re designing for a business, consider their business colors. Branding is an important element of website design. Make sure you’re aware of any corporate colors if you’re designing for a business. If you’re designing for an individual, consider colors that suit the person. For example, pink might not go well for a male wrestler’s personal site.

Browser safe colors are your best bet. Most web browsers can only view a palette of 256 colors. Most webdesign and graphics software usually notify you if the colors you’re using are web browser safe or not. While you can break this rule and experiment for yourself, it’s a common rule of thumb to use web safe colors for large areas of solid color in your website.

Different colors create different impressions on website visitors. According to psychologists, all colors are capable of having both positive and negative qualities. White can symbolize clarity and purity, but can also denote emptiness and coldness. Red can denote strength and passion, but too much of it can give users the impression of aggressiveness and intimidation. You can do your own research on the meanings of colors and integrate them with the feelings you want to evoke from your website’s visitors. Just remember that color meanings differ among cultures, so it’s best to have a strong initial idea of who your target visitors are. Even men and women have their own different ideas of what colors mean.

Some colors cause eyestrain. While you can sparingly use reds and yellows to catch your site visitors’ attention, it’s inadvisable to use large areas of these bright colors. After all, you want your site visitors to stay as long as possible and you also want to encourage return visits. You can do this more easily if you use colors that are cool and relaxing, without too much contrast.

Keep in mind that these rules are for general use. You can definitely break them if you want to go for more artistic or dramatic effects. But if you’re using your website to advertise or represent your business, you’d want to stick to the basics.