Choosing a color scheme for your website might not be as black and white as you think.
Since we’ve been designing and building recruitment websites for over 15 years for the the recruiting and staffing industry, one of our customers asked the following question: “What are the best colors for recruiting websites?”
Before we can answer that question, the critical question you need to answer is, “Which color is best for MY website?” Because, a recruiting firm that places attorneys in New York City will have a different customer base than an agency that works with maritime companies in San Diego.
Color choice for your website should accomplish two goals: first, resonate with the intended audience and second, represent the emotions that your company wants to elicit from that audience.
Therefore, it’s critical to understand the demographic profile and mindset of your customer base before selecting a color scheme for your recruitment web design. Equally important is deciding how you want the audience to respond when they see your website. Selecting the right colors can help build relationships with your website visitors.
Below is a list of colors and the emotions and meanings they tend to portray:
- Blue—Blue is associated with honesty, trust, dependability, and cleanliness. It’s the most favored color and therefore, the safest to use. It provides a corporate feel. Blue also slows the pulse rate and reduces the appetite, whereas red increases both the pulse rate and the appetite. Blue is calming and conservative. However, too much blue can be seen as rigid and predictable.
- Red—Red is full of energy, and it’s this intense color that calls for action to be taken and demands attention. It’s associated with action, excitement, passion, and desire. It’s also the universal sign for danger, and can be used to evoke anger. Red can be used to excite and motivate, but too much can cause a negative reaction.
- Yellow—Yellow is associated with sunshine, joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. It evokes cheerful feelings and stimulates the mind. Bright yellow grabs attention, whereas pale yellow evokes caution or sickness. Too much yellow can evoke a feeling of anxiety; therefore, it’s best used as a highlight color.
- Orange—Orange is a flamboyant color that combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It evokes adventure, enthusiasm, and optimism. Like red, it stimulates the appetite. Too much orange can give the impression of being cheap.
- Green—Green is associated with health, nature, healing, recycling, and the environment. Lighter greens cause us to think of things being fresh, whereas darker greens bring to mind thoughts of wealth and money. Green is a balancing and calm color, but too much green can evoke feelings of greed and envy.
- Purple—The color purple is tied to royalty. It conveys luxury, spirituality, fantasy, and dignity. Purple relates to premium service and high quality. Purple tends to be more relatable to women’s and children’s products. However, it also inspires intellect. Too much purple can evoke arrogance.
- Brown—Brown is associated with strength, the outdoors, friendliness, and comfort. It suggests stability and is earthy. Men seem to like brown much more than women. Too much brown can be dull and boring.
- White—White is seen as clean, pure, and safe. White is calming and evokes feelings of freedom and simplicity. Too much white can portray coldness, separation, and isolation.
- Black—Black is the color of authority and power. It’s viewed as protective. It’s also associated with death, fear, and evil. A black background reduces readability, but contrasts well with bright colors. Combining black with red, orange, or gold provides an aggressive color scheme.
Which colors comprise your recruiting or staffing agency’s website? Based on the information above, should you make any changes to those colors? Would a different color scheme represent your agency and what you’re wanting to portray in a better fashion?
If you need a website built from scratch or if you believe that it’s time to update the design or functionality of your current site, check out some examples of websites that we’ve built for other recruiters. Our sites can even integrate with the Big Biller recruiting software to display your most recent job board postings.
For more information, you can contact me at 330.455.1433, x135.
