Does design matter?

[Mosey]

I see a lot of posts asking for design/html advice, CSS advice, etc.

Does design matter? I mean, the idea is to get people, and keep them at your site, if lucky they come back over and over and over and eventually think of you when they sign up, isn't it?

I know there is also the 'quick hit" someone looking for make a big bonus and the SEO work pays off when someone searched "rakeback bonus" or something.

Either way, does the design really matter once you are better than your average geocities page? Not trying to discourage people from designing well, more of a curosity. Design costs money, money that could be spent elsewhere.

Do people really sign up because a site looks slick if the content is bunk?

I might be the one that has it backwards though.

[bahh]

If I were looking for a bonus code for some poker room I would not take it from a "link farm" or a site that doesn't look good. So yes design matters for me at least. I guess alot of other visitors and poker players agrees.

A nice looking site looks more trustworthy

[SunPoker.com]

I think design is important. Me personally, if I go to a site that looks unprofessional or some type of spammy looking site, I am less likely to buy from it, even if it has the information I like. I suppose it's different for everyone but I think design is important.

Mark

[Mosey]

Originally Posted by bahh

I would not take it from a "link farm" or a site that doesn't look good.

I don't mean don't spend any time on design, it shouldn't look like "make money fast" but once you have "good" isn't money and time better spent on content.

I see so many questions on design and CSS flow, and for most sites the "catch" and "content" seem like what should be focused on.

[Bryan]

Simply put its should be a combination of both design and content/seo. If you're looking for someone to put a % on the importance my personal view would be...

Design - 30-35%
Content/SEO - 65-70%

A perfect example is the iPod. There's tons of mp3 players out there that all do the exact same thing. They allow you to add music to them and then search and play music and now sometimes video. Again, many players including Microsofts Zune does this, but then why does Apple hold 75% of the market? It's because of design, layout and simplicity oh and also marketing which also plays into design. Not because of what the product holds as they all pretty much hold the same music.

Same goes for web design. Sure there's exceptions like Craigslist, but in general users would much prefer a website or UI that's easy to look at, well thought out in terms of layout and most importantly easy to find the proper info.

So again, I think it's a combination of the two. Great content and proper seo tatics are obviously more important, but if you can combine that with a beautiful, though out design then you'll probably be even more of a hit.

Bryan