Headline colour!

[Li Weng]

From your experience and testings, which headline colour is better for conversion? Bright red or Dark red? Any psychological reason behind this?

[Li Weng]

anyone care to share?

[spressnell]

Michael Cheney uses bright red in his promotions.

Shirley

[eagerbeaver24]

bright red!

[Raydal]

Depends on the market. Sometimes deep navy blue beats red, so try
that as well.

-Ray

[Marian Berghes]

Ive had good rates with deep blue and/or black. I just think that alot of people are kinda fed up with the "big red" and some may consider websites being some sort of scam or stuff like that.

Plus that I tend to put graphical headlines instead of simple text cus I can add some simple yet powerful effects to it and give it an unique touch and stand out of the crowd.

[Topgunb]

Bright Red, no question.

Red is the first color your eye / brain sees. Reason - It is the color which travels the furthest. Because it is associated with danger The word STOP in read is very effective. We also associate it with fast foods k f c and c o k e .

If you want to imply serious business - accounting type executive - go with navy blue.

Cheers

Brian

[maximus242]

Actually yellow is the first color the eye see's, thats why they are changing the color of fire hydrants from red to yellow. Also why you see yellow fire trucks.

The reason why yellow is seen first is because its the first color that registers in the brain. Its got to do with neuroscience not physics.

Its also the supposed to be one of the most attention getting colors, as pointed out by Sir Gary of Halbert who recommended doing yellow paper with black type.

Attention getting colors is not just about a rule such as red always gets more attention. If you were in a car lot and there were a hundred red cars and one blue one ---- which one would you notice first?

Attention is about standing out from the crowd. Sometimes its just about doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

If you have a red background and a red headline, it probably wont get as much attention as if you had a black background.

Same thing is true if you bold every second word ---- then nothing stands out. Where as if you are carefully about what you bold, then it calls attention to it.

If everyone in your market has spammy, red taohoma headlines (dont get me wrong I do it too) then your going to look like the last salespage they saw. By copying your competition you stay IN the crowd. Do the opposite of what all your competitors are doing and STAND OUT.

[newsecrets]

There's no absolute answer to your question. It varies with the market, and it also varies with time. E.g. Popups used to work like crazy until everyone started using and overusing them then they became an annoyance. Generally when something becomes overused, it loses effectiveness.

So short answer is, you have to test it for yourself (and test non-red colors too).

[Katherine Wheel]

I'm used to seeing red headlines now, but my son, looking over my shoulder, said he thought they looked 'cheap'. His interests are more animation and gaming, he appreciates a pretty-looking site. But the red headline is very accepted.

Guess testing is the only way to tell what works. A well-known person will sell on their reputation, not on headline colour!

I like to be a bit individual, and often choose a foxy red on eBay ads, for instance.

Have fun! Test! Good luck.

[Li Weng]

Originally Posted by Marian Berghes

Ive had good rates with deep blue and/or black. I just think that alot of people are kinda fed up with the "big red" and some may consider websites being some sort of scam or stuff like that.

Plus that I tend to put graphical headlines instead of simple text cus I can add some simple yet powerful effects to it and give it an unique touch and stand out of the crowd.

That's interesting deep blue and black. Did you test conversion rates against red for them?

[maximus242]

Theres several online marketers who do other colors, like Carlton, does generally white on blue or blue on white.

[Cherilyn Woodhouse]

Red! No, Blue!, No, umm, Green! Purple! Errr, Turquoise! Maroon! Aquamarine! Arg...

Test. You never know - dog-doo green may convert best in your market. Testing wasn't created because it's fun, it was created to answer questions like this.

- Cherilyn

[erinwrites]

Personally, I just like the way dark red looks a lot better than bright red. The thing is, you shouldn't over use either kind of red. In theater, lighting designers warn students against the over use of red because too much red actually does trigger feelings of hostility and anger in the person who is forced to look at it for too long. So if you over-use it in your sales letters you are more likely to irritate the person reading than you would be if you were to mix in other colors as well.

[Marian Berghes]

Originally Posted by Li Weng

That's interesting deep blue and black. Did you test conversion rates against red for them?

Yes I did. Worked better that way. Tho I have one thing to say...I put it like that cus the theme of my website was around those colors, not exactly those but blue with dark stuff on the header graphic and footer and on testimonial boxes etc..

Ive kinda given up on "follow what everyone else does" when it comes to sales letter design and/or opt-in page design and positioning of elements. I started following my method of using "themed websites" for me and the ppl that I advise on conv rates...cus there are like a billion websites with a girl that holds money in the hand etc...you get my point.

So, I tried to put the headline to integrate the overall design of the salespage and It worked well...then I tested it with bright and dark red, green, light blue and it didn't work as well as it did with deep blue and black.

But like others have said...you should test, everything.

[lklein]

I like dark red too. Doesn't look as cheap as bright red. But whatever works...

Lambert

[John Willer]

Like Raydal says... it depends.

Seen multiple tests that proves... it depends on your market

Test it and find out.

You usually want something that stands out. Too light and it's difficult to read

[lianwei]

I would vote for medium dark blue. Something along the color theme for John Chow. Thats what I read in a psychology book..

[AndyBlackSEO]

There are definately tried and tested colours for use with sales pages etc. I'll have to dig through my stompernet stuff to see what what recommend. I'll be writing some sales pages soon so this is a subject i'll need to get right myself.

As far as I am aware though, bright red is a good one. It's gets peoples attention.

Andy

[P_Cerrito]

Color theory is an awesome topic. I've researched so much on this and have finally decided that I probably don't know anything. haha Sometimes I think only the customer can decide on case by case(split test or critique from friends)because it must be too complex to have a generic rule. Here's some stuff I have come to believe for something generic but it is full of holes. (my vote for these colors when not overused >> Black or Brown for trust, Blue for commerce except when over used, Red for stop or warning, Green for thinkers, etc. Warm colors and tone for info stage- A little more bold(but never cold) when time to convert. As a customer, many times I've seen copy that "felt" so aggressive or cold from the first line of the landing/squeeze page that I hit the back button. I'm not talking about graphics- I'm talking about feeling. Gosh if there was ever a formula I want it. haha

Someone please add first hand knowledge on this especially copy experts.

[Stephen Dean]

I think James Brausch at one point had red getting beat consistently by blue and black. Not sure how long that lasted. And I think Michel Fortin moved away from red for a while in favor of blue... but yeah the best headline color can change quite a bit from market to market and year to year.

If you're doing multivariate testing, might as well test several colors on every test.

[SiteKist]

Originally Posted by Marian Berghes

Ive had good rates with deep blue and/or black. I just think that alot of people are kinda fed up with the "big red" and some may consider websites being some sort of scam or stuff like that.

I totally agree : red is an aggressive colour and people don't like it much to be 'pursued' - they want to be 'attracted' !

[Daveone]

I prefer bright red for headlines especially when used against white background. Red is what your eyes and brain see first.

[Qbiz]

Bright red in Tahoma font appears to be the popular (proven?) choice in the IM niche but the answer really does depend upon your market. The only way to be certain, and the answer few want to hear is - TEST!

Regards

George

[imamrktr]

Bright red from my experience does the best but to be safe...split test.

[UnityinAustralia]

Test it mate. There is no answer other than to test it yourself on your own market, so you understand the psychology of the particular group of people that *you* are dealing with.

my site uses navy blue colored headlines, and still pulls at over 25%.

[Alex1985]

Color of the HEADLINE! Content Writing dark color for the header and bright color for subheadings no particular color but i do it . I must agree that it depends on the page and color scheme. I think as a main headline a medium red works nicely.

_________________________________

Alex1985

[MouseandMice]

The reason that #cc0000 converts so well is a biological and evolutionary reason.

It is the color of blood. Through years of evolution (In this case, religion doesn't matter... you can say evolution whether through billions, millions, or thousands of years) humans have learned that when they see blood, something is important.

It might be an animal they just attacked bleeding.
It might be their child, with half of their genes, bleeding... and at risk.
It might be THEM bleeding, and at risk.

And so on.

:-)

[gigabit_2]

Mines green on a black background... I just like the way it looks...

[OnlineWriter]

I've heard the combination of red, green, and yellow stimulates the hunger part of the brain. Do this and add a "snacks" area haha.

[John_Keith]

Hi All

My first posting here, as I only just joined today. I may be stating the obvious but...look at the colour at the top of this page. Works for me.

John K.

[gtrusler]

The only way to know for sure is to split test it on your specific page.

[Nido]

I agree....Split Test is Your BEST answer my friend