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3 Ways You Can Use Colors for Blogs in Need of Improvement

Using colors to improve blogs is not as difficult as it might seem. There is a wealth of resources bloggers can use to improve the way they communicate their message to their readers and harness conversions. Blogging is often thought of as a purely intellectual and artistic process. However, disregarding good marketing practices can cost bloggers views and revenue.

In this post, we’ll focus on ways in which marketing experts and web designers use colors for blogs to improve branding, drive conversions, and increase revenue. Rather than just one type of blog or blogging niche, we’ll discuss blogging in general.

Color psychology can help us understand ways in which certain colors affect public perception of a site, logo or store. While aesthetics are important, smart design is always informed by how design choices will impact the ways in which a brand or site engages with its customers or viewers.

That is why design teams test different variations based on performance markers. These markers include clicks, conversions or reviews and are used to gauge whether design choices work for the audience.

The principles below range from those complex to implement, to pretty straightforward ones. What remains true throughout is that bloggers who ignore the impact color can have when used wisely are doing their blog and themselves a disservice.

3 Ways to Use Colors for Blog:

Following the three principles outlined in this article can serve as a great starting point.

1. Think of your audience when deciding on a color scheme

While color psychology does help us understand quite a bit, it cannot work miracles. Quite naturally, different people react to colors in different ways, and blogs are no exception. So, while it is smart to think of color in terms of message, it is critical to narrow down your target group to ensure better effects.

This involves some research. For instance, depending on your audience’s cultural background, you may want to avoid certain colors, as they could carry a negative connotation for certain blogs.

Take the color of mourning as an example. While this is black in most western countries, in parts of East Asia white is used. Meanwhile, in Brazil, people often don purple to mourn their dead.

Colours by Culture

Image Source: Colours and Materials

Since context matters, the demographics of your target audience should affect your color choices. Aside from nationality, this can be based on gender, age or a particular interest or affiliation as well.

To hammer home the point, let’s look at differences between particular shoppers: impulsive buyers prefer royal blue, black and orange, while shoppers on a budget favor navy blue and teal. On the other hand, more traditional buyers gravitate towards pink, rose or sky blue.

Brick and mortar stores acknowledge these preferences by choosing colors for their interior and exterior based on the type of customer they are primarily targeting.

When it comes to colors for blogs, selecting ones that resonate with your readers will build rapport and improve the way the aesthetics of your blog resonate with your message. Along similar lines, perhaps you cover a super-specific niche, and there is a color closely associated with it. In this case, you’d be smart to include said color or colors in your design.

Good examples include the coat of arms colors from Game of Thrones families or a football team’s colors.

Game of Thrones Family colors

Image Source: Pinterest

2. Your color choices reflect your blog’s message

While the section above details the need to know your audience, in many contexts, colors are associated with certain messages by the majority of the population. This results in their use for specific industries.

For example, red frequently pops up in fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and KFC.

McDonalds and KFC logo

This color is associated with a sense of urgency, and some research has shown it can even raise blood pressure. Red is also the most emotional color, by many accounts.

Thinking about your brand message before making color choices is another excellent piece of advice. This wisdom also applies to blogs. Analyzing your niche, message or branding strategy can help you decide on a color scheme based on color psychology research.

Some of these choices are no-brainers. For instance, green is a safe and reliable choice for blogs about nature, sustainability, healthy eating, and other related niches. The association is clear. Green is a common color in nature and is thus frequently associated with content in these niches.

Wellness Mama Blog

To give another example, black is a common sight in fine, luxury stores. This translates to blogs, as bloggers who wish to establish themselves as authorities on elegance, frequently find themselves opting for this color.

It is wise to bear in mind that by ignoring these facts, you run the risk of really missing the mark. Maybe budget shopping is the topic of your blog, yet your site features a silver, white and black theme. Luxury is a frequent association to these colors, blogs included. Therefore, In this case, your color scheme will fail to create a visual connection to your niche.

3. A compelling call to action buttons require smart color choices

Blogs might be somewhat less reliant on CTA buttons than some other types of websites. Still, the way commerce sites use color to boost sales can teach us a lot. This principle applies for both blogs that rely on CTA buttons and those just looking to increase their clicks on site or drive attention to certain elements of a page.

Web designers have found that some colors work best to drive viewer attention to website elements. These colors are red, yellow and orange. The key behind their success is contrast: these three colors are starkly contrasting with most color schemes out there.

[Download] High Quality Blogging Blogs that accept guest posts

Image Credits: Freepik

Of course, an orange button would never attract much attention if your blog is entirely orange themed. For most color schemes though, orange will be a contrasting color which will inevitably drive your visitor’s eyes towards the element in question. This works for buttons, links, or whatever other parts of your blog you wish to emphasize.

As a blogger, you shouldn’t shy away from these practices. Using colors wisely in your blogs will not only help drive conversions and on-site clicks but is also good practice aesthetics-wise, as contrast helps spread out elements and create a clearer layout.

Effective use of the three colors mentioned here has proven hugely beneficial for several sites. Let’s look at some stats compiled by DesignAdvisor.

40 Facts About How Psychology of Color Can Boost Your Website Conversion - Infographic

Infographic Source: DesignAdvisor

To use this infographic on your website, use the code below.

<a href=“https://www.onlinerockershub.com/colors-for-blogs.html”><img src=“https://i1.wp.com/www.onlinerockershub.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/40-Facts-About-How-Psychology-of-Color-Can-Boost-Your-Website-Conversion-Infographic.jpg”></img></a>Infographic Credits: <a href=“https://designadvisor.net/blog/psychology-of-colors-infographic/”>DesignAdvisor</a>

 

For instance, Beamax managed to increase clicks on links on their website by more than 50%.

How did they do it?

They changed the color of their links from a rather dull blue to a contrasting red. An online gambling site’s conversions sky-rocketed by 175% after they switched their CTA button from green to yellow. Many other sites have seen similar improvements after testing out different color strategies. Applying these tactics to your blog could reap some of the same benefits for you.

Testing and other good practices

We’ve covered three basic principles to follow to make the most of color for your blog. However, it is also important to mention some examples of good practice. One important example is testing.

A/B and other tests are a time-honored way of ensuring that your design choices are working as they should. With time and patience, trying out different alternatives through thorough testing will yield the best results. Continuous experimentation can bring surprisingly great results.

A/B Testing

Image Source: Optimizely

Consider the following marketing experiment conducted by Heinz. After changing their traditionally red logo to green, they experienced the most significant sales spike in their history. This goes to show how experimenting, while risky and sometimes uncomfortable can be vastly beneficial.

Heinz Ketchup Logo Color Scheme

Image Source: Scheme Color

Besides testing, getting the right advice and feedback is also vital. Keeping an eye on the latest trends is not as difficult as it once was. Many sites and services are available to keep you informed about the constantly changing world of blogging and web design. Also, getting feedback about choices from trusted sources can indicate to a blog owner whether they are on the right track.

Wrapping Up:

In summary, although color choices were once dismissed as mere aesthetics, research has now shown that they are are a key factor for increasing engagement on blogs, sites, and businesses, and are also useful for establishing narratives and telling stories.

This post has focused on the key aspects to consider when you are designing or improving your blog, focusing on the impact of colors for blogs that need a bit of a hand. While some of these tips may send you straight to your site to change things around, other pieces of advice may require you to engage in some deeper thinking. But don’t feel blue, soon enough, you’ll get the right color for your blog!

Note: This is a guest post on blog colors was contributed by Josh Wardini. If you have an interesting article to contribute, do check our guest blogging guidelines.

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