How to Change the Link Color in WordPress (In-Depth Guide for Beginners)

Have you ever visited a website and immediately been drawn to their unique link colors?

Link colors play a crucial role in web design. Studies show [1] that users subconsciously perceive colored links as clickable. So customized colors can guide visitors to important pages and calls-to-action.

But links also affect user experience in other ways:

• Branding: Cohesive link colors reinforce brand identity. For example, Twitter‘s blue links match their brand palette.

• Accessibility: Contrasting colors make links more visible for those with visual impairments.

• Navigation: Changing visited link hues helps users track their path through your site.

After 15 years as a WordPress webmaster, I firmly believe beginners should learn how to change default link colors.

So in this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share 3 methods to customize links using:

• The WordPress editor
• Custom CSS code
• CSS plugins

Let‘s dive in!

Why Should Beginners Change Link Colors in WordPress?

Here are 5 key reasons to change your default link colors as a WordPress beginner:

1. Branding and Recognition

Using your brand‘s colors for links helps reinforce brand identity. Visitors will subconsciously associate the colors with your website.

For example, many recognize Facebook‘s blue links instantly. Their primary brand color consistently appears across all links.

2. Accessibility

Links should have enough color contrast from body text to meet minimum accessibility standards. This helps those with visual impairments easily differentiate links.

One study found insufficient color contrast is one of the most common accessibility errors among websites.

3. Navigation and Usability

Changing visited link colors allows users to see where they’ve been on your site. Differentiating visited versus unvisited links improves navigation.

4. Attention and CTA Effectiveness

Call-to-action buttons can stand out more with unique, vibrant link colors. This draws attention to your most important conversions.

5. Aesthetic Appeal

Custom link hues also simply look more aesthetically pleasing than bland, default blue links. Distinctive colors add visual interest and branding.

Now that you know why to change link colors, let‘s look at how to edit them in WordPress.

Method 1: Change Individual Link Colors in the Editor

The easiest way to customize a single link is directly in the WordPress block editor.

For example, you may want to make a call-to-action button pop by using a unique color.

Here‘s how to change individual link colors:

1. When editing a page or post, click on the link text to open the link toolbar.

2. Select the color picker option labeled "Link".

3. Choose your desired link color from the color picker.

4. Hit "Update" to save your changes.

That‘s all it takes to make a link stand out with custom colors!

However, this only edits links one at a time. To change colors globally, keep reading.

Method 2: Change Link Colors Site-Wide With Custom CSS (Recommended)

For beginners, I recommend using custom CSS code to change link colors across your entire WordPress site.

Pro Tip: Hard-coding CSS in your theme‘s functions.php file is NOT beginner-friendly. One small typo can break your site.

Instead, use a plugin like WPCode to add CSS safely.

Here‘s how to change all link colors with CSS:

1. Install and activate the WPCode plugin.

2. Go to WPCode » Add Snippet.

3. Give your snippet a title like "Link Color Change".

4. Select "CSS Snippet" as the code type.

5. Add your CSS rule. For example:

a {
   color: #389ADD;
} 

6. Make sure the toggle is set to "Active".

7. Click "Save Snippet" and your new CSS will apply site-wide!

With just a few lines of CSS, you can implement site-wide link color changes.

Let‘s look at some common examples:

Change All Link Colors

This targets the color of all standard unvisited links:

a {
  color: #389ADD;
}

Change Hover Link Colors

To edit the color when hovering over links:

a:hover {
  color: #F07057; 
}

Change Visited Link Colors

This CSS affects the color after clicking a link:

a:visited {
  color: #7D3C98;
}

Change Navigation Menu Link Colors

You can also target just navigation menu links:

.primary-menu a {
  color: #41B883;
}

With CSS, the possibilities are endless!

Method 3: Use a CSS Plugin for Visual Customization

Here‘s the best part:

You don‘t need to know any code to change link colors. CSS plugins provide a visual editor instead.

One great example is CSS Hero.

Here‘s how it works:

1. Install and activate CSS Hero.

2. Click "Customize with CSS Hero" in the WordPress toolbar.

3. Hover over any link and click to open the editor.

4. Go to the "Typography" tab.

5. Select your new color from the palette or enter a hex code.

6. Click "Save & Publish" to make your changes live!

No coding involved – just point and click. The visual editor is fantastic for beginners who prefer a WYSIWYG workflow.

You can even watch your changes appear live as you customize.

Key Takeaways: A Beginner‘s Guide to Changing Link Colors

Let‘s do a quick recap of all the methods we covered:

• Change individual links directly in the WordPress editor for unique CTAs.

• Use custom CSS snippets for global sitewide link color changes.

• Try CSS plugins like CSS Hero for visual customization.

• Choose colors with sufficient contrast to aid accessibility.

• Match brand guidelines to reinforce brand recognition.

• Differentiate visited and unvisited links to improve navigation.

As you can see, changing default link colors is easy for WordPress beginners. And it offers immense benefits for branding, usability, and aesthetic appeal.

So try implementing one of these methods today to make your website stand out!

*[1] https://www.nngroup.com/articles/cross-culture-design/