What sells is the content and what forces me to come back is the content!
So... Minimalizing your design is definitely the way to go!
Why? Because I don't get distracted + I can really focus on what matters.
When I say that design does not sell, what I in fact measn is that fresh design and simplicity does sell!!!
What doesn't is when it is overdone... Why?
Because very often that hurts the content. It tells me that lots of effort is put in the box!
The design is still just that! A box!
How much is too much?
What is the exact limit and what's the point where not enough actually kills or turns off visitors?
Does a poor performing page with little to no design become a successful page if excellent fancy design is added?