Colors, Backgrounds and Text
Rick Henkin
Your choice of colors, backgrounds and text will determine
whether or not your visitors are able to read your message.
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The reason that most books and magazines are printed with black text on
white background is that it's the easiest to read. The high contrast
between the two makes the letters easy to distinguish. When you reverse
it, white text on a black or dark background, it's not the same. The hard
edges tend to become blurred.
We use it at IncreaseOnlineProfits.com for dramatic effect in our
videos, but only on the title and ending credits. As long as you don't
over do it and keep the text short, bold and large, you can get away
with it.
The higher the contrast, the easier to read. The lower the contrast,
the more eyestrain. Use color on your website but pay attention to the
color of your text and the background that the text sits on. The best
combination is black text on a white background. Stay away from busy or
animated backgrounds.
Most of this seems really obvious, I'm sure, and just plain common
sense. But as Will Rogers said, "Common sense, ain't common."
The common characteristic that runs through the websites of big
companies like Amazon, Youtube, Microsoft, The Weather Channel, Ebay
and IBM is that they are high contrast and easy to read. You get their
message just like you want to make sure that your visitors get yours.
Your message is too important to be missed.
Here are links to two website resources featured in the video
below:
Color
Meanings
How
your actual web page looks to those with color vision confusion
Watch the video for more detailed information
ARTICLE DATE: 2008-10-27
REVISED DATE:
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