This is really not very difficult. Here is a general rundown of what to do to get a basic blog up and running.

You Own URL Is Best
First you will want to get your own URL to put the blog on. It is better for your blog to be on your own URL rather than using the WordPress URL. This way you are building traffic and an identity for yourself uniquely. In being hosted with Wordpress your blog is a file extension of their domain. You also have more flexibility with your own url in terms of other things you may want to do with your site.

Wordpress Blog
The most recommended blog program is WordPress for a business blog, because of its ease of use and multitude of either built in features or readily available ad-ons. The other choices are mostly either very basic or more complicated than most people have the ability to work with alone

Easy Installation
Most hosting accounts, such as c-panel have a program called Fantastico. This program installs various other softwares on your site automatically. There is a choice as to whether you want your blog to be as the main URL or an extension. This means, will it show up with www.xa-y-z.com or www.xa-y-z.com/blog.

If your hosting account does not have Fantastico or any other installation tool, you another easy way to go about it, although it does require you to do the install. Wordpress has their “famous 5-minute install” that is quite easy to do. Their instructions are fairly clear for most people, just carefully follow their instructions.

Changing Themes
Once you have this up, then you can change the way it looks, the basic theme is not too pleasing. The theme is easy to change. You can find many free theme templates online, just search for ‘Wordpress theme’. You can certainly also pay for a theme as well, if you want something more specific. Upload several themes if you are unsure of which one to use.. You can turn off one theme and on another as often as you want from the control panel and this does not affect your content. Try each out for a while to see how you feel about it.

One thing to be careful of in choosing a theme for the look and function of your blog, don’t let it be too busy looking. The cleaner the look generally the pleasing to the eye it is. Remember that you want people to feel comfortable visiting there. Some themes look really cool but they don’t lend themselves to a professional looking business blog. It must be easy to read, remember some people don’t have super good eyesight so dark lettering on a dark background is not good.

Changing Header
You can with most themes change the header to something of your choosing. However, some themes are easier to do this with than others, it depends on how the theme was coded. If a theme you are looking at using say in the description something about changing the header, they have set it up to be done easily. Otherwise you will need to carefully find out exactly what to take out to get rid of the original and add in the new one, which you will need to have code for.

Watch out about using a header graphic that is too busy, it could distract form the pleasing look of the page. You don’t want a design that overpowers the rest of the page. It can be helpful to look around at other blogs and identify the ones you like and dislike so you can pinpoint the features and look you want for yours.

Plug-ins
You can change and add to the features and functionality of your blog is with plug-ins. These are small programs that are built to add into a Wordpress blog to perform a specific function. Just search Google for ‘Wordpress Plug-in’, and you will find out there all kinds of plug-ins that do so many different things. I would suggest beginning it fairly simple, then as you go along you will discover a need that a plug in may solve. Some blog themes come with some plug-ins already installed in the blog code. There is a way that you can turn them on and off in the Wordpress control panel.

Widgets
A widget, also called a “sidebar accessory”, is another add-on feature now available for Wordpress blogs. These are usually add on for the sidebars that are visible on the blog, similar to a text box that can hold certain text, ads, gadgets, images and such. These make it a bit easier to add blog features without having to get into the coding. Many blog themes now come either with widgets installed or widget capable. You can usually turn them on or off in the blog control panel.

Get Familiar
Once installed, just take the time to look around in the control panel to familiarize yourself with the controls and features. Try doing things and then seeing what the results are, in a short time it will be easy.

There’s Help Available
When you need additional help with working with blogs, there are many videos available online not that you can access for free. Just Google what you want like, ‘wordpress install video’, or ‘changing wordpress header video’. Just add ‘video’ to your desired search.

Just Do It
Well, that’s that basics. Should get you up with a running blog. Most all things that you would want to change on a blog will not affect the content, so don’t worry about thinking that you need to figure everything out up from before posting. The important thing is to get posting as soon as you can. Changes and fine-tuning can be done along the way as you discover what you want and need.