Once you have decided on your website's layout, it is time to think a bit more about the colors.
 
The colors are very important.
 
Individual colors and color combinations instantly stimulate a reaction, emotion or feeling within the viewer.  
 
Here is a brief list of the emotions evoked by all the main colors:

 
  • Red – Love, energy, action, excitement, passion, desire, strength and danger
 
  • Pink – Romance, love, femininity, friendship, truth, peace and caring
 
  • Orange – Warmth, energy, enthusiasm, vibrancy, goals and action
 
  • Brown – Earth, home, outdoors, inexpensive, stability and simplicity
 
  • Gold – Wealth, god, winning, happiness, prestige, wisdom and desire for power
 
  • Yellow – Sunshine, joy, intelligence, imagination, social energy, warmth and happiness
 
  • Green – Growth, personal goals, renewal, youth, stability, freshness, nature, the environment, health, healing, help and harmony
 
  • Turquoise – Calming, emotional healing, protection, refreshing and sophistication
 
  • Blue – Professionalism, wisdom, trust, calm, reassured, communication, water, loyalty and formality
 
  • Purple – Royalty, influence, spiritual power, self assurance, nobility, transformation, enlightenment and mystery
 
  • White – Purity, spirituality, peace, reverence, simplicity, humility, innocence and birth
 
  • Silver – Glamour, high tech, dreams, clairvoyance, ornate riches, sleek and modern
 
  • Grey – Security, reliability, intelligence, staid, conservative, practical old age, dignity and maturity
 
  • Black – Protection, power, solidity, strength, sophistication, death, formality, mystery and authority
 
 
For a more detailed look at the meanings of color, go to:
 
 
 
When picking a color consider:
 
  • What color will your audience expect to see? A site about gardening would probably use greens and browns, a site about alpine skiing would have lots of white and a site about sailing would probably use blue and yellow to create the association with water and sun.
 
  • What is the tone of the site? Serious and professional, then blue and grey, fun and energetic, then red and yellow.
 
  • What age group are you aiming at? Teenagers? Then blue, black and grey will probably not excite them.
 
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel, see what colors and tone other sites and magazines are using to address your target audience.