Amazing isn't it! I have preached and preached that it is not how hot your site looks, it's about what makes it easy for the customer to find what they are looking for. Great post!

Mike, 
 
Design is typically the focus when doing a website redesign. This makes the case for a well thought out site map and wireframe, as well as continued user testing and refinement. Great post and data to back up all the early planning work. 
 
-Sean

I've been designing websites for over a dozen years, and the first thing I tell my clients (and my students when I was teaching it) is that the essence of good design is a site that visually leads you in to what you came looking for. They very much go hand in hand. However, it can be confusing in that 'design' can sometimes be interpreted as just placement of objects on a page. Good web design makes sure that each element has a purpose, the greater good of which is the easy access to the content inside. 
I always love your posts. 
Thanks, Margie

I think that this article is really helpful, however, I do believe that the incorporation of video is important. I am not saying have 3,4,or 5 videos on a site. But I think that when selling products via web one video discussing either the brand or product can act similar to having an associate at your store.  
 
I am currently looking to design a site with one video like my friends link below. I think that this use of video is extremely effective  
 
www.ballandbuck.com

Depending on your business, design can still be incredibly important. For instance if you are a graphic design firm, do you think it might be important to have a visually stunning site? This makes sense if you're selling low dollar products but on high dollar products having stickiness to your design is incredibly important.

@Connor: the sixth bullet reads, "Do use these things if it helps your customers get what they want from your website." This article doesn't poo-poo video indiscriminately. It discourages video, Flash and other media types that subtract from the conversion funnel. If the funnel depends upon these medium, then use 'em. The bigger message here however is that the exercise is in defining a specific conversion path as determined to by user usage data. Using Flash, for instance, to prove your site's point is fine, providing your research tells you that Flash is what your user base expects to interact with. Dig?

@David, design is important. It's important to both design shops and non-creative businesses alike. But it's not as important as content, more specifically, not as important as the ease with which that content is traversed by a targeted group of users. This tenet of Web design (redoes or otherwise) applies equally to creative industry Web sites, as well as Jim's Country Belt Buckles, the giant pharmaceutical and your local DMV. This is a conversation in prioritization, not marginalization. No one is suggesting reducing the importance of a good design - not for the sexy ad agency, nor the small Mom & Pop retailer. I think what's being proposed here is that the data speaks loudly - yet again - to the value inherent in a Web site that contains user-centric, data-driven sales paths.

Great post! So many marketers miss the initial planning needed for better and more efficient utilization. Thanks for posting.

Ideal timing as our company has recently gone through the process of re-designing our website and your points are compelling! I particularly like the comment pointing out that providing a similar look and feel is more important to a web visitor than all of the “over the top” graphics and movement on a website. Helpful blog Mike!

Great article. As a consultant, it's very important to for me to lead a client into a good marketing website that has conversion points, that is balanced with good design. There is such a balance.  
 
After all, having a website is about getting more business and converting visitors, whatever that conversion may look like for a business. 
 
Kevin 
Social Media Consultant Calgary 

It goes back to the KISS principle.

You make a Sweeping statement with an N=174, How about using your own advise. Test, Test, Test! 
This is the type of over-hype that gives marketing a bad name

That mean that either you know what your customer want well or not we need to have a good structure design with the content which easy for them to look what they want. Usually they looking for a information that what they want or not they will mostly bounce out.

The aethetic aspect is emphasised by the term or category that the practice is promoted in.  
 
In this case it is website design rather than website development of even website marketing. 
 
I approach it from the joint perspective of design and seo as two sides of the same coin and design/layout created to achieve the objectives required eg sales, lead generation, information provision etc. 
 
That's not to say how it looks in unimportant as we know that first impressions do count but the reasons a visitor has landed there is more so. 
 
Rob Willox 
WebMedia SEO Inbound Marketing

One of the most undervalued features of any transactional website is a 'Call to Action' - getting the website visitor to do fulfil the purpose of a visit to the website...order a brochure, request a quote, etc. 
 
Design is of course important, especially when it comes to insurance (strong brand, professionalism, reliability, stability) but call to action is key. This also makes it easy for visitors to navigate the site and make it easy for them to find what they want.

It didn't surprise me at all to see that 76% of consumers want a site that is easy to find what they want. Nothing is more frustrating than going to a site or blog and all the distractions of ads, flashing ads and pop ups. While some of those strategies may bring in an income stream, it is best to keep you site as crisp, clean and easy to read as possible. 
 
 
 
So many comments mention how content is important. That is because Google loves content. I believe that a blog should be the hub of your business, and spoking out to social media platforms that best fit your business market niche. 
 
 
 
Blogs are easy to set up, very low cost, provides lots of good content and information for your visitors and you can set up ecommerce shopping pages and sorts of other plugins without paying an arm and leg for webmaster. 
 
 
 
BUT.... all of this does not become successful unless you are consistent, engage with your audience and provide real value that will make your visitors want to come back for more!

Design for design's sake is never a good policy. I always tell my clients that a Website's design should not dominate in budgeting for a project. The emphasis should be on copywriting, SEO and especially the user experience. 
 
The overall types of sites that tend to fail at this are the ones that can most benefit from a nicely designed Website - higher-end restaurants and retail establishments. 
 
Can't wait for the Webinar. And I've already written a blog post relating to this (with full credit given, of course). 
 
Washington, DC Web design and inbound marketing services

 
I disagree. 
 
Not with having things easy to find, but with the survey itself. 
 
 
It's the equivalent of saying, "We asked 1000 drivers what they want in a car and 76% said 'that it's easy to drive." 
 
+ Don't worry about how it looks 
+ Don't worry if your spouse hates it 
+ Do worry about getting to your destination 
+ Don't try to build a car that looks different 
 
It is a valid fact. But it's not the only thing to consider in the users experience. 
 
A website should be easy to use. But the do's and dont's list makes it sound like there's one template, and all the brand has to do is populate it with 'content the user is looking for' for the website to be successful. All while not worrying about the visual identity. 
 
I think a website's design should be based on content, should be usable, and familiar to the audience. But I don't think all brands have the same goals, or the audience is in the same place in the sales cycle. Or that you should base your online strategy entirely around one statistic. 
 
So maybe a steering wheel in the center of the car is a bad idea. History has provided best practices in usability. But don't be afraid to innovate. 
 

Just further justification for something almost any seasoned web design professional already knows - but it's nice to see it re-re-re-enforced as sadly it's always a difficult one for new web proprietors to accept.

The best web experience comes from a blend of design and content, allowing a brand to truly stand out and speak in a different voice than its competition.  
 
Just because only 10% of those polled said the look and feel was important doesn't mean that design isn't an integral part of the experience. If we're strictly focusing on ease of finding what the user wants, should everything just look like Craigslist? Certainly ease to use, but certainly the ugliest site on the web. 
 

Those disagreeing should do some usability tests and see how it changes their mind :)

Hi, 
 
Great article and at times these reasearch and market study help us to reach our clients to have different perspective on website design. 
 
 
 
Don't we all agree it require the "Mindshift" on approaching website. 
 
 
 
We just did one post on "Your website is hub for all your marketing efforts" and with the visual chart we tried to explian it. the question we received were they never thought that website can be leveraged.