There’s no doubt at all that visual impact is critical in design. If your site doesn’t have that visual appeal then you’re going to lose a lot of your potential readers immediately.
But equally, if your graphics are cashing cheques the website can’t honour, and your text isn’t up to scratch, people are going to feel let down when they realise the site is all fur coat and no knickers, and hasn’t actually got the content they want. And without that content, it’s unlikely you’re going to get any custom from them. Sure, you might get some likes and shares and a bit of traffic, but if that doesn’t convert into trade then it’s a bit of a waste of time.
Fortunately, for those of us who are aesthetically challenged, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. With mobile becoming an ever-increasingly important segment, graphics are not the be-all and end-all in the way that they were becoming a few years ago. These days, a lot of people will be surfing on their mobiles where they will appreciate a simple, streamlined interface with little in the way of graphics. Yes, you still need to make it look good, you probably still want a funky logo, but the full-page infographics and artwork just don’t work so well on a small screen.