It's About The Content, Stupid

Why are some of the Web's ugliest sites also the most popular?. The next time some web development or search engine optimization company sends you an email asking you to pay them money to make your website or blog pretty, or to make it more popular by getting Google and other search engines to find it more often, remember that some of the Web's ugliest websites are the most popular. Drudge, Reddit, Wikipedia, Hacker News, Craigslist, these are pretty much just line item after line item of useful information. They are popular because they have content that readers want to access. They gain popularity by word of mouth. Now, tell me again why your blog or website isn't getting as many hits as you would like?