Has anyone ever hired someone to build a website for them?

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I need a website built for my small business, but I don't know anything about making a webpage myself. I was thinking about hiring someone else to do it, but there are so many choices if you search the web for website design or whatever. I see companies in America, India, Europe. I see random people on forums who will do it. How do you know if they are any good? I was also thinking about going with a local company just so I can meet them face to face. Do you think that's a good idea? I found one company who is pretty close to me ( http://www.thoughtmechanics.com/ ) but I don't know. Can I just go visit their office and say hey, can you show me some work you've done? I'm not really that tech savvy so I'm not really sure how this sort of thing should work. What exactly should I do? Thanks!