Yes, using WordPress for a business website is the most cost-effective solution if you are a website designer who knows a little bit of PHP coding and SQL scripting. Or else it will be a lot more expensive than you think.

From the website design stage to the maintenance and operation stage of the website, WordPress costs you more in terms of monetary value, time efforts, and continuity of your website (downtime of your website ).

Website Maintenance for Paid or Customized WordPress Theme

Imagine the following as how WordPress theme maintenance is going to be:

1. The WordPress theme you use for your website must be updated now and then, especially when WordPress core is updated.
2. WordPress theme also has to be updated every time one or more of the plugins you use with your WordPress website is updated.
3. Whenever the WordPress theme is updated, the modification made to the previous version has to be redone again for the new version.
4. How often do the updates happen? The WordPress core updates more than once every three months. It has to update with the latest core version. The theme and plugins you use need to update for your website to operate appropriately.
5. This link shows you how often WordPress core has been updated since 2003, https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/.
   
6. The WordPress theme has to be modified during the implementation of the new plugin. What's more annoying is that the existing theme has to be replaced because the current theme doesn't support the new plugin.
7. The worst situation is that the theme no longer suits your business requirement ( after plugins have been installed ), and you decide to look for a new theme and customize it from the beginning to fit all the latest plugins you have chosen for your WordPress website.

Website Maintenance for WordPress Plugins

Imagine again about WordPress plugins maintenance:

1. WordPress plugin has to be updated every time WordPress core is updated.
2. Most WordPress plugins are not updated on a timely basis. Therefore, it prevents you from updating the WordPress core and exposes your website to hacking attacks.
3. Plugin modification done to the previous version has to be redone again for the new version.
4. Almost all free WordPress plugins are not updated on a timely basis, ranging from 3 months to 2 years, because the developers are not obligated to provide timely updates.
5. Plugin updates may conflict with another plugin which causes both or more plugins to fail.
6. For example, let's say you've found an outdated plugin with no further development ( abandon plugin ), such as the Product Catalogue Plugin, and you have 1000 items in it. You have no choice but to look for an alternative and updated plugin that is compatible with the latest version of WordPress core so that you can update your WordPress website. Here's the issue: you must re-insert all 1000 items into the new WordPress Product Catalogue Plugin.

Estimated Cost of Website Maintenance for WordPress Website

Let's say you have a basic WordPress website as your business website, which only uses a few plugins, such as the followings:

1. WordPress CMS Core
2. WordPress Theme – Website Visual
3. WordPress Page Builder Plugin – Editor
4. WordPress Form Plugin – Contact Form
5. Social Media Feature Plugin – Social Media Integration
6. Gallery / Slides Show Plugin – Photo or Image Gallery
7. Banner Slider Plugin – Website Banner
8. SEO Plugin – SEO Enhancement
9. Security Plugin – Website Security

As an estimation, all of the above needs to be updated every three months on a different day through the three months period. Therefore, an average of 3 hours is required to maintain and update each plugin, costing you approximately USD 30 / hour ( Approximately SGD 42 / MYR 130 ).

The followings are the breakdown:

1. 9 units ( 1 x Core, 1 x Theme, 7 x Plugins ) items to be maintained
2. 3 hours of maintenance work for each items
3. USD 30 / hour of work

Total website maintenance cost for a basic WordPress website for a duration of 3 Months

( 9 units x 3 hours ) x USD 30 = USD 810 ( Approximately SGD 1,132 or MYR 3,500 )

** Currency Exchange Rate provided by Google search result on 16th May 2017

Website maintenance costs you USD 810 every three months ( Approximately SGD 1,132 or MYR 3,500 ) for a basic WordPress website is pretty costly.