As people dip their toes in the social-media waters, the advice seems logical: Start with a simple blogging platform such as Blogger or WordPress.com and then graduate to a hosted WordPress installation, like the one we use to manage this site.

A hosted installation allows greater control and customization than a basic WordPress.com site, which limits coding options in the interests of reliability. But for users wanting a simple Web presence, an installation may be overkill, especially since it puts the onus of maintenance, backup, and security on the site creator.

And with the latest upgrades to the service, WordPress.com has provided features that make it a viable option as a content management system as well as a growing social network in its own right.

WordPress.com as a CMS

But, wait — isn’t WordPress.com just for blogs?

No. With the right design and theme, you can adapt your site to your professional and creative needs (I use it for my community news site, SGFNews.org). WordPress.com also offers professional upgrades and VIP systems. Among the clients: TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal‘s AllThingsD site.

If you’re trying to make your site less bloglike, here are a few tips:

• Select a distinctive theme. Although the default themes such as Twenty Eleven are customizable, there is a sameness to sites created with these default options. Many users just don’t take the time to delve into the themes and end up with a WordPress site that looks like lots of other WordPress sites. But WordPress.com offers some search functions to make it easier to find unusual (and often free) themes that allow you to create distinctive looks.

• Choose a theme with a customizable header. Not every theme lets you upload your own image as the header. By creating your own image and logo using an image editor such as Fireworks or Photoshop, you can develop a distinctive image on the Web.  If you don’t have strong graphic-design skills, look at some exemplars such as Allyson’s Setlist, and remember the adage: Less is more. Don’t gum up your design with lots of colors and font mayhem.
• To determine how big your canvas should be, go the Appearance menu — where you customize the look of your WordPress themes — and click on Header.
• It will outline the size of your image. Make sure to turn off the display text as well so your header stands alone.

• Consider a static page as your home, and design a landing page. A landing page allows you to create a brand image and lets you focus on one or two specific calls to action for newcomers to your site. The disadvantage to this feature is it requires you to update the individual page when you want to freshen up your home page. To choose this feature, click on Settings and then choose Reading.
• At the top of the Reading menu, you’ll find the options for choosing your home page (or what it calls your “front page”). The default selection is your latest posts. To change to a static page, select the page from ones you’ve created for your home page. Be sure to designate another page as your posts page, so your readers can find your latest posts.

Just these simple tweaks can turn your “blog” into a full-fledged Web presence. (Be sure to check out the follow-up post, in which we discuss the benefits of WordPress.com’s new social-networking features.)