Color, because of its innate and incredibly expressive quality, is one of the most effective tools in marketing. Web designers who use color in their sites to attract (and more importantly, keep) customers are quickly becoming aware of the subliminal and powerful messages conveyed by various colors. Research indicates that color impression can account for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of a product or service; therefore the use of color in designing web sites is of the utmost importance.

Color, when used in web design, can be utilized for more than just superficial or ornamental purposes. The tone and juxtaposition of various hues, shades and tints can also have evocative undertones that may induce a more receptive response to the message.

Although we are surrounded by a myriad of color, most people take the impact of its significance for granted. Psychologists, however, have learned that particular colors can arouse the senses, cause emotional responses, alter behaviors and induce particular moods. In addition, color is a way of identifying and organizing the environment and so we tend to attach particular significance to certain colors.

People respond to color, not only as a visual event but also on intellectual, conscious, unconscious and subconscious levels, with most people attaching their own perceptions and meanings to various colors.

A good designer should bear in mind that there are a great deal of variations and subtleties in various colors. Hue refers to the name of the color. Value relates to the lightness and darkness of a particular color, and saturation or chroma is the intensity or brilliance of a color. Too much or too little color can have a detrimental effect. Therefore, the focus should be to concentrate on purely saturated hues of black, white, red, yellow, blue and green.

The extreme polarity of black and white is universally symbolic. Black, by its very nature dark and foreboding, often symbolizes evil, emptiness, death and dirtiness, yet the clever application of black can also indicate power, dignity and strength. White, on the other hand, tends to symbolize purity, sterility, innocence and goodness.

Red, a dominant color in Chinese cultures, is often affiliated with good luck and happiness.

Yellow, due to its reflective and luminous qualities is often correlated with the sun - a dominant force in the solar system - and so it is often allied with wisdom, glory, light, joy, enthusiasm and optimism. However, yellow can also portray negative connotations, as it can sometimes be associated with aging and illness.

Blue is symbolic for calmness, peace, loyalty, truth, dignity. Because blue is habitually related to the sky and the sea, it often emits an aura of infinity and mystery.

Green, the color of nature, combines gay yellow and dignified blue. Most people tend to relate green to tranquility, which results in a refreshing, quiet and natural feeling. When we think of green, we tend to think of good harvests with fresh green vegetables and other life sustaining foods. The color of hope, healing, immortality and fertility, green is also indicative of spring, rebirth, youth and freshness.

When designing a Web page, a good designer will recognize that there are various methods that can be used to incorporate interest and vitality to your site. Yet one of the more impressive applications is the eye-catching and clever use of the various hues and tints of color.