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Visitors to your website, blog or other pages respond to what they see on an emotional level first and an intellectual level second. Much of the tone of your web content has to do with the choice of colors that you use.

When you make poor color choices, your conversions will be immediately impacted. For example, if your website is about bounce houses and you choose to use blacks, greys, and other depressing colors, people will naturally want to click off your page.

But if you choose bright, primary colors that appeal to people with children, your conversions will be higher organically.

Determine Your Audience

The first consideration in color choices is your intended audience. Are you seeking to appeal to men or women? Rich people or middle class? Children or adults? The answers to all of these questions can affect your conversions.

For example, women tend to prefer blue, purple and green and naturally avoid grey, orange and brown. Men prefer blue, green and black and don’t like purple, orange and brown.

Using Color to Improve Conversions – Cultivating Trust

When people visit your web pages, you want them to believe in you and trust what you are telling them. Blue is one of the most frequently used colors because it naturally instills trust. That’s why so many corporate logos — including IBM, Paypal, Facebook and others — use shades of blue.

The biggest exception to using blue is food. From an evolutionary perspective, blue is associated subconciously with poison. So try not to use shades of blue when writing about or promoting food-related subjects.

Using Color to Improve Conversions – Calls to Action = Bright Colors

When you get to the part of your web page in which you want the visitor to do something – such as sign up for a newsletter, buy a product, or whatever else your Call to Action (CTA) is — that’s the time to use brighter primary colors.

Just make sure they don’t clash with the other colors on your web page.

PowerPoint has become ubiquitous in business presentations. Whether your are pitching an website upgrade to an existing client or trying to attract a new client, you probably depend on this easy to produce, effective tool to get your message across.

But PowerPoint slideshows can actually hurt your credibility if you don’t use them effectively. PowerPoint should be a tool to improve your visuals, not a distraction.

PowerPoint Pitfalls

Here, then, are some top mistakes to avoid when making your next PowerPoint presentation.

• Take It Easy with the Sound Effects — When PowerPoint was first introduced more than a decade ago, the stock sound effects were a novelty. Today, they are a distraction, especially when the same sound effect is included with every slide transition or when trite sound effects are used, such as clapping at the end. Your want the people watching your presentation to focus on your message, not on the technology.

• Standard Clipart Is Cliched — PowerPoint is now used so often that the standard clipart that comes with it has become stale and cliched. Depending on it shows a lack of creativity. A better idea is to scan your own photos or choose more original graphics from one of many online companies. Or consider whether you need graphical images at all. Screen captures often add more realism when making a presentation about a website or software.

• Pre-Made PowerPoint Templates — Many of the templates the come with PowerPoint are outdated. They often include distracting backgrounds or stale color combinations. Come up with your own distinctive look or incorporate your company logo in the corner of the screen.

• Too Much Text — Slides shouldn’t simply be scripts of what you are reading. They should depict your idea graphically or summarize key points. Avoid slides that contain full paragraphs, quotations or even full sentences. Bullet points work well. Images and graphics work even better.

• Be Prepared for Disaster — Anticipate the worst and hope for the best. Have a backup plan — such as pass-outs or a flip chart — ready just in case your PowerPoint doesn’t work for whatever reason.