There a number of avenues you could pursue
1) Purchase a website-in-a-box package from a big, reputable domain company (godaddy or netsol)
These are well designed, and look extremely professional (think big company web design look-and-feel). They are usually very affordable and come with support. They are usually wizard-format, so you fill in the information on a webform and you see the pages show up in a real time editing environment (called WYSISYG). The downside of this option is that you're picking from a preset list of design templates, so flexibility in the design is minimal (of course your logo and brand is dropped in, but the site wasn't designed from the ground up for you). This is usually not a big deal, as the list of templates has grown very large and diverse and you can usually find one that suits you well.
2) Hire a 1 man shop (found on craigslist or the web in general)
These are people who can design and code for the web. With the current job market, I'm sure you could find one for around the same price as the web-in-a-box option. Here's the snag though - Quality - A great designer probably isn't going to be a fabulous coder or content developer or Information Architect (all important aspects of a good website). The same goes in reverse as well...so usually what you're getting is a jack-of-all-trades, who is ok at everything but excellent at nothing...and it will probably show.
3) Use a professional web design agency
This is a great option...you get experts in all the major areas of web development. The downside is cost.
IMHO (having worked in E-Comm for many years) the 1st option is, many times, the best one for smaller business owners. It provides them a good, solid design, which has been well tested with users, while being very cost efficient - giving the business what they need; a good looking, usable site at a decent price.
Hope this helps