justgowithit - 8:04 pm on Jun 28, 2007 (gmt 0)

The best producing site I've ever owned/built is by far the ugliest one as well. The site has been online since 1997 with its original design. About a year ago I gave it a total redesign leaving content and functionality almost exactly the same.

Income fell by about 20%.

I went back to the old design and everything returned to normal. The design is nuts & bolts. I attribute the success of the site to the design - there's nothing distracting from the point of the site. It's not pretty but it sure does get the job done.