Is purple a good colour for your website?

Hello! We’re John and Brian, and we’ve been designing websites from our office in Preston, Lancashire since 2009. Purple is a complex colour that covers a broad spectrum of shades, from pale lavender to deep aubergine. That makes it a very useful colour for web design, but some purples can also make a website harder to read. So is purple a good colour for your website? Here’s our guide.

Is purple a good colour for a website?

Yes, purple can be a great website colour, as long as it suits your brand and you use it with enough contrast. Deep purples feel rich and sophisticated and work well with white text. Light purples, such as lilac and lavender, feel calm and gentle, but need dark text to be readable. How well purple works comes down to three things:

• Your overall colour scheme
• The shade of purple you choose
• The purpose purple has on the page

What does purple say about a brand?

Purple is often linked with creativity, imagination, luxury and quality. Historically it was associated with royalty, partly because purple dye was once rare and expensive. Lighter purples feel softer, calmer and more playful. Colour meanings aren’t fixed, and they vary between cultures and people, so think about how purple fits your business and your customers rather than relying on colour psychology alone. If you’re comparing colours, our guides to red web design and peach colour may help too.

Purple is used by some very well-known brands, such as Cadbury and Twitch, which shows how distinctive it can be when it’s used consistently.

Choosing the shade of purple

Different shades create very different effects. Darker, richer purples can bring elegance and sophistication, while lilacs and lavenders can feel more fun, gentle or quirky. Whichever shade you choose, make sure it matches the impression your business wants to make, and check how text will look on it.

For normal-sized text, accessibility guidelines ask for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. A free tool like the WebAIM contrast checker makes it easy to test your own colours.

Colours that go with purple

Purple works best as a key part of a planned colour scheme. It should either complement your other colours or contrast with them enough to make a clear visual statement. Purple pairs well with:

• Lime green and mint green
• Greys and charcoal
• Bronze and gold
• Oranges and yellows
• Crisp white and soft cream

How to use purple in web design

Using purple is most effective when it has a clear purpose. Common ways to use it include:

• As an accent. A purple border, box or highlight can make important content or images stand out. If you also use it for links or secondary menus, it can become your accent colour across the site.
• For buttons. A strong purple button with white text stands out well on a light page.
• As a background. Deep, dark purple backgrounds create a rich, stylish look that pairs well with a brighter contrasting colour. Paler purples, and even soft watercolour-style purples, can make lovely gentle backgrounds behind dark text.
• In gradients. Purple blends nicely into blues and pinks for modern gradient backgrounds. Make sure any text on a gradient has enough contrast at both ends.

Purple, accessibility and colour blindness

Around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some form of colour vision deficiency, according to Colour Blind Awareness. Some people find purple hard to tell apart from blue. So never rely on colour alone to show meaning: underline your links, and use text or icons alongside colour for things like errors or “in stock” labels.

Common mistakes with purple

• Mid-tone purple behind text. Purples that are neither very dark nor very light often don’t give enough contrast with either white or black text.
• Too many purples. Several similar shades on one page can look muddy. Pick one main purple and one or two supporting shades.
• Purple links on a purple page. If your brand colour is purple, make sure links still stand out, for example with an underline.
• Forgetting the brand. A colour should reflect your business and your customers, not just look nice. Our post on choosing the right colour scheme for your website explains how to decide.

Purple website FAQs

What colours go with a purple website?

Greens, greys, gold, orange, yellow, white and cream all work well with purple, depending on the shade.

Is a purple background a good idea?

It can be. Deep purple backgrounds with white text, or pale purple backgrounds with dark text, both work. Mid-tone purples are the hardest to use behind text.

What type of business suits purple?

Purple often suits creative, beauty, wellbeing, premium and entertainment brands, but any business can use it if it fits their identity.

Thinking about the colours for your website?

Choosing colours is a big part of your brand, and we’re always happy to help with branding. Give John and Brian a call on 01772 822626 or get in touch online. You’re welcome to pop into our Preston office for a coffee too.