Site design and online marketing are 2 distinct fields

[Victor]

The line between site design and online marketing is very blurry. While they are both components of making a good e-commerce site, they are really two distinct fields. While Marketing is a science; website design is mostly art. When these two fields intersect each other in an e-commerce site, it is called usability design.

Designing for maximum usability is by far the most important facet of e-commerce website design. While an aesthetic website increases user confidence and is easy on the eyes, the most profitable design tweaks are the ones that are made to increase usability. Adhering to the best standard of usability practices – such as, using large contrasting buttons, shortening the checkout process, and addressing relevant concerns with relevant hyperlinks – can increase your conversion rate many times more than aesthetics can.

Usability is more the expertise of internet marketers (they are the ones that derived those standards) than site designers. For this reason, marketers are the ones that get the biggest clients; and are responsible for the misconception that the best websites are always the ugliest. Sadly, the site designers out there that are true artists (but don't understand usability practices) are stuck working on lower end projects.

We are used to seeing hideous websites prevail, and artistic masterpieces wither away and die.

[Carine Bruyndoncx]

Is it Usability or Conversionability ? (haha, is that a new word, or is there a better term ? )
A good converting site might be an accessibility disaster and thus have a major usability defect - or not ?