In eight seconds, the average attention span of a website viewer, a good first impression must be made as this is the first interaction a potential client has with your practice. Having attention-grabbing colors that are aesthetically appealing is what will keep the viewer on your website. However, the wrong color combination can put off the viewer, and off they go to another dental website.
Why is the color choice so important?
If you have two bright colors that do not complement each other, such as bright yellow and white, it can make text unreadable. There needs to be a balance between the colors that allow the reader to view the website without struggling. It is best to have a primary color as the background with two to three accent colors to contrast each other in an aesthetically appealing way and draw the viewer’s attention to the essential spots on the page. For example, having a light pink as a primary color with hot pink and maroon as the accent colors create a contrast that is aesthetically pleasing and gives off an approachable feel.
This is why studying color psychology is crucial before making an informed decision on the color scheme for your website. Color psychology is a field of science that studies the way colors affect the way humans behave. Learning the meaning behind each color can help you create an aesthetically pleasing and mood-enhancing website.
Images are going to add color.
Images usually have splashes of a variety of colors that are going to liven up the website; however, people need to remember that these images need to appear well against the background of the other colors of the page. Try to contrast the colors of the image with the colors of the website to ensure it comes out well.
Top 5 Color Schemes to Refresh Your Dental Practice
What does each color mean?
The Number One Color – BLUE
Different shades of blues have been popular among dental websites for years for a reason. It’s a no-brainer why a lot of professionals choose to be associated with this color. Blue is the color of trust, intelligence, and sincerity while also being people’s #1 favorite color. Dentists want to make their patients feel comforted and know that they’re in good hands. When selecting a dentist, people are a little on edge and need the assurance that your dental office will be professional, clean, and honest.
Peaceful and Honest – WHITE
White websites are often wide, open, and very clean. Typically it has straight lines and eludes a sense of light and purity. This website design shows that the practice is interested in conveying the message that they have a clean office environment, and are very open about their business practices. There are no gimmicks, and they have nothing to hide. That attracts a lot of new patients who appeal to modernity, honesty, and transparency.
Choosing the Best Fonts for Dental and Medical Websites
Warm and Inviting – BROWN
Selected website themes that are associated with brown and taupe are often reflecting an image of a small town, homely feel. This type of website style is excellent for private practices in small towns looking to attract more traditional patients. This color scheme is naturally inviting without being pretentious. It provides a comforting feeling that a new patient can wander around and get familiar with the practice.
Neutrality – BEIGE & IVORY
Common backdrops like beige and ivory are often the background benefiting from brighter accent colors. Neutrals are reliant on surrounding colors, though they can be used on their own to showcase a sophisticated medical website design. Ivory is a tad warmer than white, yet incorporates some of the pureness of white. Beige also takes on characteristics of the other design colors as a background neutral with texture.
For The Environmentally Aware – GREEN
The color green shows up throughout nature in all different shades and represents growth, fertility, harmony, and the environmentally conscious and eco-friendly. Choosing the color green is excellent for practices that are trying to convey their political views on “Going Green.” Green websites will appeal to new patients who are interested in a more natural and organic medical or dental experience.
Energizing Sunshine – YELLOW
Bright yellows are perfect for practices that are cheerful and upbeat, while soft yellows work to invoke calm happiness. Established practices may use darker and golden yellows to hone in on a sense of permanence and reliability.
Use It Sparingly Or Not At All – RED
Red makes an excellent accent color to give a website a little pop or feeling of excitement. However, a mainly red website theme could be fatal. Throughout society, the color red is used to convey messages of danger, pain, and anger, which can easily scare away patients who are reluctant to grab a seat in your dental chair. Although red can also symbolize power and strength, it may be hard to deter the negative emotions that have been associated with it. According to color psychologists, “Being surrounded by too much of the color red can cause us to become irritated, agitated and ultimately angry.” These are the last feelings that should be evoked from existing and potential new patients.
For the Young and innocent – ORANGE
Orange represents a season of change and represents energy and playfulness. Muted shades are earthy and inviting. Oranges tend to invoke feelings of health and vitality, so it is no wonder orange commands attention. It is less glaring than red and is considered more friendly. Most pediatric practices use a touch of orange in their color scheme.
Luxurious – PURPLE
As a mix of red and blue, purple takes on specific attributes depending on the balance of colors. Darker shades are often described as regal and are associated with wealth, sophistication, and luxury. Purple tends to be more feminine and has a way of charming the audience. Lighten the shade of purples in your website design for optometrists to incorporate the spring-like, romantic side of this secondary color.
Modern Designs – GREY
Pure greys are lighter shades of black. This color is a popular choice for a traditional or professional look as it can appear both conservative and modern when used in website design for healthcare professionals.
What’s Next?
Once you find a suitable set of colors, remember to play around with saturation and hue for each one. Changing the tints and shades will help you create a truly unique color pairing and site design. You could even take a single color and use its various hues and shades to create a monochromatic scheme. For sites with multiple tones in a single frame, it is often wise to change the text to white with a black background. Although white text surrounded a black frame seems dull, it is the easiest to see on nearly any color background. You can also experiment with the text size to see if it makes a difference in readability. Remember that having a contrasting tone for the text will ensure the text remains readable on any device.
Do not underestimate the power of instilling ample whitespace in your website design. Open space acts as a design element to keep you from overusing your selected colors. By minimizing the use of your colors, you can boost their positive impact while diminishing the potential for the tones to elicit a negative response. Like brief moments of silence in speeches, whitespace can be strategically used for emphasis to bring attention to essential elements on your web page.
Navigation elements help break up the content and give it a space of its own. The bars, buttons, and other attention-grabbing elements work best as neutral, yet dark tones. The navigational elements should actively move the viewer’s eyes across the content of the web page while emphasizing the most important sections, leading the reader toward service and contact information, first and foremost.
