The requirements of users and search engines are pretty much the same. Visitors to your web site want quick and easy access to the information you are providing. Search engines like simple, easy to navigate web sites and index them accordingly. Clean web sites rate well with search engines.
Good web design should not be an expensive exhibition of the technical expertise of your web designer. All that does is cost you money. It should deliver the information you want to provide as quickly and easily as possible. More complex sites, for example for ecommerce, can be expensive but should still obey the basic rules of clean simple design.
An easy way to decide is to ask yourself what you like in a web site - or more importantly dislike.