in my view thr r two categories::::
1.designing
2.content
ofcourse i do think dat quantity is much more important.bt a site having dull designing n gd quantity is nt been so succesful bc this is the era of beauty wid brains.so it shud b like 70% quality wid 30% beauty!!!!!!!!!!!

i go for both.

the first thing i your design should be Search Engine friendly if you want it to appear on major Search Engine,,Second, this is not just after the design itself but the quality of design which I think more matters. Third one,. it should be attractive in the eyes of its viewers

i go for design,..

design is everything but content is must, in this kind of field most of designers is caring about more on appearance... because many of the Client ( Surfers ) are just looking into GUI (graphic user interface ) and how friendly it is, more easy to use and more accessible is better... that's why they called "blind users".

I have to agree with Lhemee,. its should be user-friendly, you better think on your site potential visitors as they are the one who will use it,. so design for them,.

Content is the way for you to gain returning visitors,.

There is no question, if you want traffic, make your site look nice and make it easy to navigate. Once that is done though, don't forget that people are looking for quality, if you don't offer it, they'll find someone who does. There are tons of dull looking sites, that have great followings because they have great features. So, why not do both?

A good site must be user friendly and easy to navigate. It must also have quality content, or people won't be much interested in your site.
Actual looks don't matter as much as ease of use.

So mostly content and quality should be emphasized, design should be utilitarian rather than beautifying and making things look shiny.

In this way more people will like and visit the site, and i think that the old adage is applicable in this situation "beauty is only skin deep".

Before deciding what will weigh heaviest in your development, look at other sites in the same niche. If you can avoid looking the same but retain ease of use, your site will stand out, giving you an edge over others and drawing more traffic.

You can have the smartest coolest looking site on the world wide web, but without content that will interest people then it's dead.

I would say it should be 50-50. To catch the eye, it should stand out, but it has to have some substance, as well.