How to Choose the Perfect Color Palette for Your Website

1. What Is the 60-30-10 Rule in Website Design?

The 60-30-10 rule splits your palette into three parts:

• 60 % Dominant hue (backgrounds or large areas)

• 30 % Secondary hue (navigation, sidebars, cards)

• 10 % Accent hue (buttons, links, call-to-action)

Why does it matter? It keeps your pages balanced. Too many strong colors can overwhelm. Too few can feel flat.

Example
Imagine a blog with a soft gray background (60 %), deep blue headers (30 %), and a bright orange button (10 %). The orange instantly draws your eye.

Action Step
Grab a free color-picker tool and test a base shade. Then pick a mid-tone and an accent. See how they look together in a quick mockup.

What could your accent hue highlight on your homepage?

2. What Is the Three-Color Rule for Websites?

The three-color rule says pick:

1. Primary color for core elements

2. Secondary color for contrast

3. Neutral color for text and backgrounds

Sticking to three keeps your site cohesive. It also makes design updates easier: you only tweak three values.

Example
A fashion brand might use charcoal (#333333) as neutral, pastel pink (#F4C2C2) as primary, and gold (#CBA135) as secondary.

Action Step
Open your site’s CSS. Replace any extra hues with your three choices. Notice how pages feel more unified.

Could stripping back to three colors simplify your design?

3. What Are the Best Colors to Use for a Website?

“Best” depends on your audience and brand:

• Tech or finance: cool blues, grays

• Health or wellness: greens, muted earth tones

• Fashion or beauty: pastels, deep jewel tones

Think about emotion. Blue feels trustworthy. Red sparks energy. Green suggests growth.

Specific Example
A startup used teal (#008080) for trust, dark slate (#2F4F4F) for seriousness, and coral (#FF6F61) to highlight offers.

Action Step
List three adjectives that describe your brand. Match each to a hue. Test them in a quick prototype.

Interested in a custom touch? Check out our Custom Website Design to see how expert palettes can boost engagement.

4. How Do I Choose a Color Code for a Website?

Follow these steps:

1. Start with a mood board. Collect images that match your brand vibe.

2. Use a palette generator. Tools like Coolors or Adobe Color let you export hex codes.

3. Test accessibility. Run your combos through a contrast checker to meet WCAG standards.

4. Refine in context. Paste your hex values into your site’s stylesheet or a mockup to see real-world impact.

Example
A blog owner grabbed three photos of desert landscapes. She pulled out hex codes for sand (#D4BFAA), cactus (#58754B), and sunset (#E07A5F). Then she checked contrast and fine-tuned each by 5 %.

Action Step
Choose your hero image. Extract five hex codes. Narrow down to three by testing readability on white and dark backgrounds.

Want hands-on help? Our Web Development Services team can turn your palette into pixel-perfect code.