It is true that search engines like content or plain old html text. They do not recognize how aesthetically pleasing your site is but rather will digest the content of your site to understand its subject matter. That is not to say that you should sacrifice design for content. You can actually have the best of both worlds. There is a myth that one has to have all their content appear on the page before graphical components. That is simply not true. As long as there is good content within your pages, it doesn't matter where it is - search engines will find it. So the challenge then is not "where" to place content but simply to have it in the first place. In having content it is imperative to then have the best content. This is where creativity in presenting information comes into play. If your site offers information on a subject, then make sure you have the best info available on the Internet. If you sell a line of products, make sure you provide content describing the products whether that be in the form of convincing sales verbiage, product reviews, testimonials or all those combined. Make sure your content is written in a natural language. In other words, make sure it is written for the end user in mind.well and in case this explanation is not sufficient then please click here for the original and detailed version
http://www.searchrank.com/articles/013.html