How a Web Design Company Tests Color Palettes

When you’re building a website—whether it’s for your personal brand, your startup, or a growing business—choosing a color palette might seem like a small step in the process. But here’s the truth: it’s one of the most influential decisions you’ll make. The right colors evoke emotion, strengthen your brand, and guide your visitors’ behavior. That’s why professional web design companies don’t just guess at what colors to use—they test them.

If you’re working with or planning to hire a web design company, it’s important to understand how they test color palettes. Not only does this help you make more informed decisions, but it also ensures your design aligns with your brand’s goals. Let’s walk through exactly how web design professionals go about testing color palettes—and how you can be part of the process.

Start with Brand Discovery

Before any colors are tested, a good web design company will sit down with you to dig into your brand identity. Think of it as a strategy session rather than a creative brainstorm. You’ll talk about your mission, your audience, your competitors, and the emotions you want your website to inspire.

You might be surprised to learn how much psychology goes into this. Different colors mean different things to different people. Blue builds trust, red sparks urgency, green suggests health and growth. But what resonates with your specific audience? That’s what designers are aiming to uncover in this early step.

Action Tip: Bring visual references to your discovery session. Examples of websites you like (and dislike) give your designer a better idea of your taste and expectations.

Develop a Color Palette Mockup

Once your goals and audience are clear, the designer will develop a series of potential color palettes. These aren’t just random swatches—they’re carefully curated combinations of primary, secondary, and accent colors.

Expect to see mockups that show how each color would appear on buttons, backgrounds, headlines, and links. The goal isn’t just to find something that looks good—it’s to test how colors behave together across a functional design.

Action Tip: Ask your designer for at least two or three palette options so you can compare them side-by-side. This makes the selection process more objective and less based on personal bias.

Accessibility and Contrast Checks

Not all users will view your site the same way. Some may have color blindness or impaired vision. Others may be using screens in poor lighting. A professional web design company will run your palette through accessibility tests to make sure your colors meet contrast and visibility standards.

Tools like WebAIM, Color Oracle, and Stark help designers simulate how your site appears to people with different vision profiles. It’s not just about compliance—it’s about inclusion and usability.

Action Tip: If accessibility is a priority for your audience, make sure your designer runs WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) checks early in the design process.

A/B Testing in the Wild

Once a palette is narrowed down to one or two strong contenders, designers often turn to A/B testing. This involves showing different color variations to different groups of users to see which palette performs better. You’ll want to test critical areas—like call-to-action buttons, signup forms, and navigation menus—to see how color impacts behavior.

For example, one version of your homepage might use a green “Sign Up” button, while the other uses a bold orange one. Over a few days or weeks, designers will track which button gets more clicks and engagement.

Action Tip: During A/B testing, keep all other elements consistent so that the results clearly reflect the influence of color alone.

Real-Time User Feedback

While data from A/B testing gives you quantitative results, nothing replaces real human feedback. Web design companies often use tools like Hotjar, UsabilityHub, or Lookback to gather insights on how users experience your color palette in action.

You may be asked to review screen recordings or participate in feedback surveys. This is where you’ll get answers to questions like:

• Do users feel emotionally connected to the color scheme?
• Are any elements hard to read or interact with?
• Does the color palette reflect the brand’s personality?

Action Tip: Don’t just trust your gut. Ask friends, colleagues, or even current customers to provide unbiased opinions on the color palette in a real-use scenario.

Mobile and Cross-Device Testing

Your color palette needs to look great everywhere—not just on a desktop monitor. A professional web design company will test how your chosen colors appear on smartphones, tablets, and even older screens.

Certain colors can look more saturated on mobile or appear washed out on older browsers. That’s why designers use responsive design tools and mobile-first previews to make sure everything is consistent and visually appealing no matter the screen size.

Action Tip: Always review your site on your own phone before approving the final palette. If something looks off to you, flag it right away.

Iteration Based on Real Metrics

The testing doesn’t stop once your site launches. Great web design companies continue to monitor color performance over time. If bounce rates are high, or if users seem to abandon certain pages, designers might revisit your palette and make subtle tweaks.

This kind of post-launch refinement ensures your colors are not only on-brand but optimized for conversions and engagement.

Action Tip: Request quarterly reports from your web design company to see how your color choices are performing over time—and don’t hesitate to make adjustments as needed.

How This Ties Into Website Design and Development Packages

When you invest in Website Design and Development Packages, you’re not just paying for a pretty layout—you’re getting strategic design decisions backed by testing, feedback, and refinement. The testing of color palettes is a key part of these packages, especially if your goal is to build a high-converting, professional web presence.

Not every package includes extensive A/B testing or post-launch optimization, so be sure to ask what’s included upfront. If color psychology and branding are important to your project (and they should be), make sure your package includes time for these essential testing steps.

Action Tip: Choose Website Design and Development Packages that offer design flexibility. A rigid process might leave you stuck with colors that aren’t ideal for your users.

Final Thoughts

Testing color palettes might not sound glamorous, but it’s one of the most strategic things a web design company does. From understanding your audience to running accessibility checks and A/B tests, every step is about ensuring your colors do more than just look good—they should work for you.

When done right, your color palette becomes an extension of your brand’s voice. It communicates your values, builds trust with visitors, and guides them toward taking action. So don’t leave it to chance. Work with a web design company that takes testing seriously, and be actively involved in the process from start to finish.

Remember, good design doesn’t just happen—it’s tested, refined, and intentionally built to perform.