Colors have a huge impact on human behavior, decisions and emotions. The color combination on a website can instantly impact our perception of the company or person whose website it is. These perceptions are both psychological and cultural. For this reason, the colors you choose for your website are incredibly important. So important that QuickSprout indicates that “90% of all product assessments have to do with color”. Here are some of the best colors for medical websites and why they would be right for your audience and purpose.

White Background

A medical practice’s website should be first informative, but after that we want something soothing and calming. White has a positive effect on brains because it symbolizes pure healing and a lack of clutter. The warmer shade of white, ivory for example, is the best of the whites on the color spectrum.

• Clean
• Completion
• Wholeness
• New beginnings
• Independence
• Impartiality 

Examples of successful sites: American Cancer Society and CDC 

Blue

Blue is an extremely popular color among medical professionals. Doctor Multimedia states that “53 percent of all brands use blue when creating their logos and more than 80 percent of industry leading healthcare companies have logos that feature the color blue”. Actually, it is preferred by most people. When surveyed, both genders placed blue as their most liked color. This is for a number of reasons. Blue has a positive connotation throughout almost all cultures. It represents confidence, reliability, calmness, and seriousness – all qualities a medical website would like to have. There is scientific reasons why most medical staff wear blue scrubs. The light blue color portrays trust and capacity to heal because of the similarities to water and the sky – survival elements. All these reasons are why blue is such a prominent color with medical websites and logos.

• Reliability
• Calmness
• Trust
• Credibility
• Power
• Cleanliness

Examples of successful sites: Blue Cross Blue Shield and Mayo Clinic

Green

Green is another one of the best colors for medical websites and logos. The preferred shade is light green. It symbolizes optimism, serenity, and balance. The image of wellbeing is an important association to make with medical fields. Green is a color associated with memory and allows logos/websites to stand out and be easily remembered by users.

• Calm
• Growth
• Prosperity
• Harmony
• Balance
• Stability

Examples of successful sites: CareDash and Epocrates

Pink

The color pink is associated with feminine healthcare predominantly. This includes maternity and baby care. Pink has the ability to relieve our uneasy emotions and remind us of the comfort from a mother figure. In medical fields, it represents an intuitive and nurturing practice. Although light pink is a successful color, dark pink is not a positive color for medical fields.

• Love
• Nurturing
• Good health
• Tenderness
• Admiration
• Insightful

Examples of successful sites: Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Breast Cancer Foundation

Conclusion

Remember the importance of each color – white is clean/peaceful, blue is professional/intelligent, green is calm/optimistic, and pink is nurturing/tender. Lighter versions of colors are better because they are easier on the eyes. This keeps viewers on your site longer and ensure they will actually read the information provided. A good starting point would be to try new colors with buttons to explore their effects on your specific audience and field. However, avoid overdoing colors which will overwhelm your viewers.

Hopefully the importance of your website’s color scheme is now apparent, and you have guidance on which colors to pick and why.