Recently we were designing a landing page for a client, the landing page was to promote a particular software service. In the design process one of our website designers got a little bit extravagant with color usage and as a result we had to give him some guidance on how to “design for conversion”.
One of the major principles that we taught him was the “One Color Principle.” The one color principle is where the only use of strong color on a page is in the call to action area. By limiting color use to just the call to action you will immediately attract the visitor to the call to action.
The major mistake many designers make is they try to include too much imagery and too much color into their design. They get caught up in making the design pretty rather than making the design convert.
Let me give you an example:
This is a sentence with lots of color and lots of distractions
This is a sentence with one color and minimal distractions.
If you look at these two sentences you’ll notice that the second sentence portrays just one important message and is actually easier to decipher. The same principle can be used with your landing page design, use minimal color, best practice is one color, to achieve optimal conversion.
Now this can be a problem for designers as it’s not what they perceive as being pretty, but it’s what works. Take a look at some of the leading brands, brands who are spending thousands on “smart agencies” and you’ll see the same principle being used.
Try it out, we’re sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results it generates for you.
