Design is important. But it depends on what you call design.
AIDA was something I learnt way back and it still works.
Attention the initial impact, that gets the guys:
Interest to go further and arouse his;
Desire to go into
Action, get his CC out or move in the direction you want.
Now this has to be a mixture of the right images that fit the niche, the correct wording and clear directions.
Unfortunately some designers thinks it's flashy pages with clever Flash and Swish images scrolling on the screen. They are thinking like a designer when they should be thinking like a wanker. Scuse the pun.
But the best design in the world, with the greatest traffic will never make a dog turd smell sweet or sell.
