50 top alexa websites color palettes

Color Palettes of The Top 50 Alexa Websites as of 2019

Alexa.com has been around for quite a while, and even though it’s now owned by Amazon, it has nothing to do with the Alexa home robot thingamajigger.

Alexa.com has traditionally ranked all the world’s websites by visitor traffic. The lower your website’s Alexa score, the more popular it is. At one time, Alexa.com publicly listed the rankings for all websites on earth, but today they only list the top 50.

We thought it would be fun to see what the tops sites main color palettes are and see if we can find any patterns, or notice any interesting things design-wise. At the end of the post, we discuss our conclusions.

To determine the color palettes we used site palette (this tool weighs the volume/density of color usage). We picked the first 5 colors (other than white/transparent) as the color palette for each website’s homepage. In the cases where a homepage has too many thumbnail images or photographs that affect the color palette makeup, we used the color palette from their about page. If the company has a brand page that specifies a color palette, we used that.

Websites marked NSFW – means they are NOT SAFE FOR WORK. They are websites that serve pornographic content.

1. Google.com

 

#aeaeae
#4285f2
#e64438
#469e5e
#f1bc27
Silver
Cornflower
Cinnabar
Fruit Salad
Saffron

 

2. Youtube.com**

 

#ff0000
#ffffff
#282828
#bcbcbc
Red
White
Almost Black
Silver

 

3. Facebook.com

 

#eeedf3
#3b5a9a
#adadb0
#5c9346
#353437
Athens Gray
Chambray
Bombay
Hippie Green
Ship Gray

 

4. Baidu.com

 

#ffffff
#bcbcbc
#3486f4
#6c6c6c
#cb0c0f
Silver
Alizarin
Denim
Woodsmoke
Boulder

 

5. Wikipedia.org

 

#bcbcbc
#6b6c6c
#3366ca
#030303
#f3c935
Silver
Alizarin
Denim
Woodsmoke
Boulder

 

6. Qq.com

 

#bcbcbc
#dc2c24
#1279d6
#0d0d0e
#7a7979
Silver
Alizarin
Denim
Woodsmoke
Boulder

 

7. Tmall.com

 

#010101
#fd0841
#6c6c6c
#68100f
#b0afaf
Black
Torch Red
Dove Gray
Dark Tan
Silver Chalice

 

8. Taobao.com

 

#fe4f02
#fd94b2
#508bc1
#86786c
#4f3827
International Orange
Pink Salmon
Steel Blue
Makara
Saddle

 

9. Yahoo.com

 

#2b1151
#4385f2
#a094ab
#7408fe
#61429f
Jagger
Cornflower Blue
Amethyst Smoke
Electric Violet
Royal Purple

 

10. Amazon.com

 

#fefefe
#202d3e
#04c64b
#bcbcbc
#6a6b6c
Silver
Alizarin
Denim
Woodsmoke
Boulder

 

11. Twitter.com

 

#1a96e0
#8acbe3
#1b1b1c
#6b6b6c
#1c98e8
Curious Blue
Cornflower
Shark
Mid Gray
Curious Blue

 

12. Sohu.com

 

#ffef8d
#aeafaf
#6c6c6c
#c84450
#42381a
Picasso
Edward
Dove Gray
Fuzzy Wuzzy Brown
Thatch Green

 

13. Jd.com

 

#f3f3f3
#da9487
#e74230
#786e6c
#fcb20f
Concrete
Petite Orchid
Cinnabar
Dove Gray
Sun

 

14. Live.com

 

#fedf37
#3a76e6
#fe8fbf
#020202
#949494
Bright Sun
Royal Blue
Carnation Pink
Black
Dusty Gray

 

15. Instagram.com

 

#fbfbfb
#1a1a1a
#3797ef
#bbbbbc
#6d6c6c
Alabaster
Cod Gray
Picton Blue
French Gray
Dove Gray

 

16. Vk.com

 

#eeeeee
#4b77a8
#191819
#5faf50
#aeafaf
Gallery
San Marino
Thunder
Fern
Edward

 

17. Weibo.com

 

#ce3132
#bcbcbc
#0e0d0c
#797a7a
#fbb26c
Persian Red
Silver
Cod Gray
Sirocco
Rajah

 

18. Reddit.com**

 

#ff4500
#0dd3bb
#24a0ed
#ffb000
#ff8717
Orangered
Mint
Blue
Mango
Orange

 

19. Sina.com.cn*

 

#bdbdbc
#7a797a
#fac042
#363636
#bc2635
Gray Nickel
Fedora
Casablanca
Mine Shaft
Tall Poppy

 

20. Yandex.ru*

 

#e51000
#bcbcbc
#7a7979
#020202
#f3796a
Red
Silver
Boulder
Black
Froly

 

21. 360.cn*

 

#afafaf
#6b6b6b
#25ab38
#282828
#f4af02
Silver Chalice
Dove Gray
Forest Green
Mine Shaft
Yellow Sea

 

22. Login.tmall.com

 

#e82335
#f2cc88
#949494
#860202
#525252
Alizarin Crimson
Buff
Dusty Gray
Maroon
Emperor

 

23. Netflix.com

 

#010101
#f2f2f2
#e00412
#424242
#858585
Black
Concrete
Monza
Tundora
Gray

 

24. Blogspot.com

 

#bc352f
#597782
#ff7f02
#1e2c37
#d98682
Well Read
Cutty Sark
Flush Orange
Mirage
NYC Pink

 

25. Linkedin.com

 

#404549
#f1f0f3
#0d0a05
#0074af
#919294
Mako
Athens Gray
Asphalt
Deep Cerulean
Oslo Gray

 

26. Pornhub.com (NSFW)

 

#010101
#505050
#949494
#fd9703
#680e04
Black
Emperor
Dusty Gray
California
Red Oxide

 

27. Twitch.tv**

 

#17161c
#6441A4
#bbbabe
Woodsmoke
Royal Purple
French Gray

 

28. Yahoo.co.jp*

 

#010101
#f3f3f3
#1f5da6
#adadad
#dc5142
Black
Concrete
Matisse
Silver Chalice
Flame Pea

 

29. Google.com.hk

 

#bcbcbc
#4385f2
#e54236
#36a352
#f3bb0f
Silver
Cornflower Blue
Cinnabar
Chateau Green
Buttercup

 

30. Mail.ru

 

#aeaeaf
#0d0c0d
#0260fa
#6c6c6c
#fc9d02
Bombay
Cod Gray
Blue Ribbon
Dove Gray
California

 

31. Pages.tmall.com

 

#010101
#bcbcbc
#434343
#d75a7b
#fd0135
Black
Silver
Tundora
Cranberry
Torch Red

 

32. Csdn.net

 

#f6f6f6
#afafaf
#f50309
#6c6c6c
#e37070
Wild Sand
Silver Chalice
Red
Dove Gray
Sunglo

 

33. Aliexpress.com

 

#333333
#aebdca
#e52b37
#7a7a79
Mine Shaft
Heather
Alizarin Crimson
Friar Gray

 

35. Google.co.in

 

#000000
#aeaeae
#4284f2
#e54337
#34a454
Black
Silver Chalice
Cornflower Blue
Cinnabar
Chateau Green

 

36. Alipay.com

 

#121f4b
#fefefe
#425d94
#0999e1
#bcbcbd
Blue Zodiac
White
Chambray
Cerulean
French Gray

 

37. T.co

 

#eeeeee
#5ba0bf
#27425e
Gallery
Fountain Blue
Rhino

 

38. Porn555.com (NSFW)

 

#2c2728
#fefefe
#a3a1a1
#9f1010
Mine Shaft
White
Silver Chalice
Tamarillo

 

39. Microsoft.com

 

#a1a1a0
#6c6c6c
#020202
#0067b8
Star Dust
Dove Gray
Black
Allports

 

40. Ebay.com*

 

#afafaf
#020b1b
#6c6c6c
#013579
#fdee76
Silver Chalice
Blue Charcoal
Dove Gray
Regal Blue
Marigold Yellow

 

41. Tribunnews.com

 

#ededed
#0c75bb
#2c2729
#b0afaf
#6d6c6a
Gallery
Denim
Thunder
Silver Chalice
Ironside Gray

 

42. Microsoftonline.com

We’re not sure why this is a top 50 website. The domain doesn’t resolve. Perhaps this domain is accessed a lot and therefore registers a high amount of traffic.

43. Imdb.com

 

#020202
#adbdc9
#5f86a0
#c78439
#fad569
Black
Heather
Horizon
Copper
Goldenrod

 

44. Livejasmin.com (NSFW)

 

#4e0000
#cb0102
#d77979
#fbbd02
#e5c9c8
Temptress
Guardsman Red
NYC Pink
Amber
Dust Storm

 

45. Naver.com

 

#bcbcbc
#01c639
#515e78
#5ec684
#282829
Silver
Malachite
Blue Bayoux
Emerald
Shark

 

46. Amazon.co.jp

 

#202d3e
#afafaf
#6c6c6d
#01a9e2
#fbbb6b
Ebony Clay
Silver Chalice
Mid Gray
Cerulean
Rajah

 

47. Xvideos.com (NSFW)

 

#d0d0d0
#949494
#010101
#4f4f4f
#dc2501
Alto
Dusty Gray
Black
Emperor
Grenadier

 

48. Github.com

 

#22272b
#aeafaf
#fc8234
#2cbc51
#0267d8
Shark
Edward
Crusta
Jungle Green
Science Blue

 

49. Msn.com

 

#f3f3f3
#0179d8
#afafaf
#6a6a69
#0d0d0e
Concrete
Lochmara
Silver Chalice
Storm Dust
Woodsmoke

 

50. Stackoverflow.com

 

#fefffe
#3b4044
#0f7af3
#bcbcbc
#e49e60
Sugar Cane
Mako
Azure Radiance
Silver
Porsche

 

Conclusions

It appears that the top 50 websites tend to use colors conservatively. The most likely rationale is it’s a safe bet. Wild or overly colorful palettes can draw the eye in many different directions and possibly hurt conversions. There also seems to be a trend for some organizations to push towards a black and white palette. We noticed that many luxury brands went this direction over the past few years. Again, it’s safe and it makes a brand look well established.

Finally, a lot of sites based in China are heavy on the red right now because of Chinese New Years.

But Safe is Boring!

What websites do you like? Who does color the best? Please let us know in the comments below!

*Color palette based on about page.
**Color palette based on official brand guidelines.

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