Frequently Asked Questions About runsonUpendo

A traditional website is treated like a completed project. A Living Website is treated like an active part of the business: continually updated, understood by search and AI systems, connected to essential tools, and improved as the business grows.

A Living Website is an actively managed, discoverable, connected, and evolving business system that turns ongoing activity into greater visibility, stronger relationships, qualified opportunities, and clear next steps.

A Living Website does not simply exist. It participates in the growth of the business.

Our landing page will tell you more:  https://livingwebsite.runsonupendo.com

runsonUpendo is currently operating in a private beta. We onboard clients deliberately to ensure every business receives high-touch architectural attention and dedicated operational care.

Yes. We believe software partnerships this important should never begin with blind credit card checkouts.

Our demo is an exploratory conversation to review your website, goals, and technical fit, with zero purchasing pressure.

Yes. This is the most common way we onboard new clients.  

Our team analyzes your current architecture, catalogs media assets and articles, preserves search equity with search engine redirects, and safely shifts your presence onto runsonUpendo.

Absolutely. While our default service intends to edit/manage everything for you, we can open up as much or as little editing to you, your team, and/or your contractors.

For example, if you want to write your own blogs, edit specific sections of content, pages, etc. - just ask.  We'll have it ready for you ASAP.  It's just a configuration change for us. 

You stay in control. You can move to a dedicated cloud environment, which carries an additional hosting cost, or continue using the runsonUpendo software on your own infrastructure with an on-premise licensing option.

For self-hosted deployments, runsonUpendo remains your software vendor for support and updates, with secure access provided to our team when needed.

If you choose another platform entirely, we'd be happy to provide a content export to support your new migration team. The runsonUpendo software itself is proprietary.

You may cancel at any time. Existing charges and remaining committed-period fees are nonrefundable unless otherwise agreed in writing.

It covers the entire turnkey initial implementation: end-to-end site architecture, custom aesthetic configuration, existing content migration using standard tools, DNS configuration, and launch deployment. 

We interview you & your team, build your brand definition, and then get to work.  Once your site is nearly ready, we'll give you 1 week to test before launch.

The Collaborative Build includes structured, iterative milestones and feedback cycles. You actively guide creative direction, custom workflow design, and component layouts alongside our senior team.

In short, if you want to have input along the way, this is the option for you. 

Please note that this option tends to take about 6 weeks longer than the starting price.  

Custom builds ($30,000+) are suited for multi-system integrations, proprietary databases, enterprise security requirements, bespoke portals, or high-volume transactional workflows. 

This includes websites that are already large in size (e.g., dozens of blogs/pages/users/comments), custom themes, custom features/integration, etc.  

If you are coming to the table with technical requirements, this is likely the option that best matches your needs to give you what you need in both the long- and short-term. 

Yes. After initial rollout, a predictable monthly platform fee covers enterprise cloud hosting, edge CDN, daily snapshots, ongoing security monitoring, and continuous system improvements reviewed openly during your demo. 

In addition, you have access to our team for unlimited, Ask-Anything support. Yeah... Ask our support team anything, even if it's not directly related to your website.  

All new clients are guaranteed to lock in their monthly fee for 2-years, even if we have to raise prices for any reason.  

Everything we can do.  Your support doesn't only include hosting, security, and support requests. 

You can literally ask our support team anything, and we'll respond to point you in the right direction.  

Your website is updated monthly (or weekly in some cases) with strategic content & search engine optimization (SEO) updates.  These updates aren't random. 

Everything we do is data-driven.  We make changes based on real-world situations (e.g., a serviice change, event, etc.) and Google Analytics data.  

Yeah, we're working on your website all month long...  Who else can say that?

If we're not actively changing something or responding to you, we're looking at the data and trying to figure out how to improve it.  

Absolutely!  We're happy to offer a 10% discount to verified 501(c)(3) organizations for any/all services, including bespoke.  

In cases where we agree to annual & multi-year engagements, we're able to offer a discount regardless of the type of organization.

We're also open to discounts in exchange for marketing collaboration activities (e.g., case study, review(s), referrals, etc.).  This is only available on a case-by-case basis, at our discretion, to ensure it's a win-win partnership for both of us.  

Monthly & one-off engagements do not qualify for a discount.  

Yes. For institutions with stringent compliance or internal security protocols, we offer dedicated virtual private clouds and customized infrastructure deployments. 

If you need to host in your own environment, we can do that too.  Our team requires direct access to be able to perform support and software updates.  

runsonUpendo websites are hosted within a secure, high-performance cloud-based environment managed by Upendo Ventures. Our team helps maintain the technical foundation so you can focus on serving customers and growing your business.

Yes. We can help migrate websites from platforms such as WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, or other providers.

Our migration process is designed to preserve valuable content, maintain important SEO signals, and provide a smooth transition to a platform built for your current needs.

No. runsonUpendo is designed to make everyday website management practical for small business teams.

By default, you don't even need to update anything.  We'll do that for you.  

Depending on your setup, you can update content and manage supported solutions without needing to write code. Upendo Ventures is also available to provide guidance and ongoing support.

In nearly all cases, yes. Your existing domain can typically be connected to your new runsonUpendo website during the launch process.

Our team can guide you through the required domain and DNS updates and help coordinate the transition to reduce disruption.

Security and performance are considered throughout the website lifecycle. Services may include security updates, performance improvements, accessible implementation, and ongoing technical recommendations.

The exact work depends on your website, selected solutions, and ongoing support needs.

runsonUpendo offers connected solutions for common business needs, including:

• Commerce and online sales
• Content management
• Directories for locations, partners, or staff
• Event registration and ticketing
• Marketing and search optimization
• Memberships and gated content
• Networking, messaging, and collaboration

Yes. You can begin with the capabilities that matter most today and expand your digital ecosystem as your business grows.

During your planning conversation, we can help identify which solutions should come first and which can be added later.

Yes. The solutions are designed to work as part of a connected platform rather than as isolated tools.

For example, a business may combine content management with marketing, commerce, events, memberships, or directories to create a more complete customer experience.

Yes. The Commerce solution is designed to support online storefronts, secure checkout, and simple inventory management.

The specific payment setup and requirements depend on your business model and project scope, so we review those details during planning.

Yes. Marketing support may include search optimization, social sharing, SEO reviews, and answer engine optimization (AEO) recommendations.

We can help structure your content so it is easier for both people and search systems to understand, discover, and act on.

It depends on what process you chose during your onboarding. 

If you chose the Managed approach, there are at least 3 meetings.  

• 2 before we get started to help us interview you and confirm your brand identity/definition.  
• 1 after we're done, to walk you through the website to prepare you to test it before we launch it.  

If you choose either of the other approaches, there will be weekly or bi-weekly meetings, depending on our project agreement.  

In most cases, absolutely.  We use a staging-to-production website development process until your website is launched.  Until then, everything you can see without a login is what everyone else can see.

We expect this.  Please know that everything you see before we ask you to report issues is subject to change.  All content and media are all considered to be placeholders until the new website is launched. 

To keep us all working efficiently so we can keep our ongoing costs low, we ask that you do the following: 

1. Record anything you want to remember to ask about and/or change in a document (e.g., Word, Google Doc, etc.).
2. Bring the document to our next meeting so we can go through it together. We'll triage everything together to prioritize the requests for further processing.  

Special Notes:  

• Don't forget to record the page URL.  
• If you think it will help, paste a screenshot into the document.  
• Indicate the level of the issue.  

Issue Levels Before Launch:

• Low - The update is either nice to have, or we otherwise agree that it should be backlogged as a future update.  
• High - The update shouldn't stop the launch, but it needs to be updated ASAP after the launch.  
• Showstopper - This is something that the website can't launch with because it will cause irreparable damage to the website and/or the company's brand.  

We expect this.  Please know that everything you see before we ask you to report issues is subject to change.  All content and media are all considered to be placeholders until the new website is launched. 

To keep us all working efficiently so we can keep our ongoing costs low, we ask that you do the following: 

1. Record anything you want to remember to ask about and/or change in a document (e.g., Word, Google Doc, etc.).
2. Bring the document to our next meeting so we can go through it together. We'll triage everything together to prioritize the requests for further processing.  

Special Notes:  

• Don't forget to record the page URL.  
• If you think it will help, paste a screenshot into the document.  
• Indicate the level of the issue.  

Issue Levels Before Launch:

• Low - The update is either nice to have, or we otherwise agree that it should be backlogged as a future update.  
• High - The update shouldn't stop the launch, but it needs to be updated ASAP after the launch.  
• Showstopper - This is something that the website can't launch with because it will cause irreparable damage to the website and/or the company's brand.  

We'll provide you and/or your team with a checklist. 

Until we present you with your own checklist, here's a short list of some of the common things we tell people to look at and review to approve the website for launch.  

• Any content text, language, and tone updates  
• Are any links broken or otherwise doing something unexpected? 
• Any images/videos that need to be replaced 
• Any bugs that prevent you from using a feature 
• The terms of use and privacy statements  
• Logins for you and/or your team 
• Are you able to edit/update the content you expected?
• Are you receiving and seeing notifications from the forms? 
• Social media icons and links 
• Contact details and hours 
• Third-party review links 

What is a bug, though?  

A bug is when a feature in the software doesn't work at all, or it functions in an unexpected way that appears broken.  

When Reporting a Bug... 

Please include videos/screenshots when you can.  Otherwise, it's important for our team to know the steps you took when the bug occurred.  If we're not able to duplicate the issue ourselves, then we're not likely to be able to find and/or fix the issue.  

Include the following details:

• Steps to reproduce the behavior (step by step is best) 
• Expected behavior 
• Actual behavior

That's the funnest part... Just tell us! 

Once we know you're happy with the current state for launch, we'll schedule an official date and time to perform the steps necessary for your new website to start showing to your target audience.

From that point forward, every new update you want us to handle for you is a support request away. 

Upendo Ventures provides ongoing support to help your website remain useful, secure, and aligned with your business goals.

Depending on your support arrangement, ongoing work may include:

• Content updates
• Security updates
• Performance improvements
• SEO and AEO reviews
• Content strategy adjustments
• Recommendations for future improvements

Submit your request through the agreed support channel and include the page, feature, or content that needs attention.

Helpful requests describe what should change, why it matters, and—when relevant—include the desired wording, image, link, or deadline.

Yes. A runsonUpendo website is intended to be a living digital asset—not something that sits unchanged after launch.

As your business grows, we can help improve content, refine the customer journey, introduce additional solutions, and adjust your website strategy.

Our team usually handles the content updates for clients after launch. Just submit a support request, and we do the update.  

Other clients prefer a combination of a support- and hands-on-based approach.

You can manage appropriate day-to-day content updates, while Upendo Ventures can provide assistance when you need it.

Many businesses use a combination of internal updates and professional support for larger changes, ongoing optimization, or technical improvements.

When you're in your website dashboard, your data growth highlights are always at the top. 

We usually have your goal(s) defined prior to building your website.  Regardless of the identified goal(s), your website will launch with default Google Analytics report data.  Once there is enough data available, you'll be able to see what features and content are performing well, and which ones are not.  We even create custom reports based on your Google Analytics data.