Focus on making the information well-organized and easy to get to. On a corporate site, however, whether you're selling a particular product or simply providing information about the company, you need to have attractive pages, including some tasteful graphics. The last time I entered a bank, they still had thousands of bucks worth of art, plants, etc. sprucing up the lobby. If the bank mowed the grass every month instead of every week, they might be able to pay better interest on customer accounts. However, human nature doesn't work that way.
Graphics often serve a functional purpose - a picture is worth a thousand words, after all.
But they also fill certain psychological needs. A nice-looking logo and a bright, clear picture of a smiling company president may not tell us anything about the product, but they give the impression of a solid organization that cares about the way they do things. Of course, if you overdo it, fancy graphics can give exactly the opposite impression. Strive for simple elegance, and be sure to make your page design fit the type of organization that you're representing. A soft drink company needs a completely different design scheme than a law firm.