It’s a great question and asked by more than you would think. The short answer is WordPress is a simple way to managed your content, commonly referred to as a content managed system or CMS. The long answer is much more complicated.

With the use of over 50 thousand extensions (called plugins) and tens of thousands of themes to help design your site, WordPress can be practically anything. It’s even great for SEO and all you need to use it is a hosting plan on a web host, like DreamHost.

The difference between Managed and Shared Hosting is deceptively complicated, and comes down to the intent of use. That is not to say how you intend to use the server, but how your web host intends your server to be used. It’s very easy to get confused about this.

While nearly any server can run WordPress, many hosting companies like Icon Host have put time and effort into customizing servers just for WordPress.

The ultimate decision comes down to understanding what you need and want from your website, and understanding what those entail.