Frequently Asked Questions About Kanopi Studios

About Kanopi Studios

What industries does Kanopi Studios specialize in?

We work with mission-driven organizations: nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, healthcare organizations, government agencies, and corporations with a positive social impact.

Is Kanopi a remote agency?

Kanopi is a fully remote agency, and our team is spread across North America.

What makes Kanopi different from a standard design shop?

We are fully women-run and inclusive—100% of executive leadership, 55% of senior leadership, and 62% of managers are female or non-binary, and 23% of managers are people of color
We are dedicated to accessibility. We incorporate accessibility practices into every step of our process. We build websites that comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA or higher.
We are committed to ongoing support and maintenance. We go beyond standard bug fixes and security updates by providing strategy, design, and development support that creates a significant impact for our clients. These smaller projects can range from addressing a specific accessibility need to designing a landing page that drives conversions, to developing new custom features.
We are experts at refining and enhancing other people’s code. It can be challenging to find an agency that will take on a site built by someone else, but we’ve got you covered.
Our employees are highly satisfied with their work. We have a 97% employee retention rate.

WordPress vs. Drupal

Which CMS should I choose: WordPress or Drupal?

Neither WordPress nor Drupal is better than the other. Rather than selecting the best platform, choose the one that meets your specific needs.

WordPress is often the ideal choice for organizations that prioritize a user-friendly editorial experience, rapid content marketing, and a vast ecosystem of integrations. It’s perfect for sites that require agility and intuitive functionality for non-technical staff.
Drupal shines for enterprise-level organizations with complex data structures, strict security requirements, or “multisite” needs (managing many sites from one codebase). It is the powerhouse for high-traffic, content-heavy sites that require granular permission controls.

At Kanopi, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. During our discovery phase, we analyze your workflow, security needs, and future growth goals to recommend the platform that will best serve you for years to come.

Can you help me migrate from a legacy system to Drupal 10 or WordPress?

Definitely! We know that migrations are high-stress projects. At Kanopi, we reduce the anxiety and risk associated with site migrations through our comprehensive data-mapping approach and a detail-oriented content strategy.

Do you work with “Headless” or decoupled architectures?

Yes, we specialize in building flexible, high-performance headless solutions. For organizations that require maximum speed, enhanced security, or the ability to distribute content to multiple platforms (such as web apps, mobile apps, and websites) from a single source, a headless approach is often the best path forward.

We use Drupal or WordPress as a powerful backend “content engine” and pair it with modern frontend frameworks like Next.js, Gatsby, or React. This allows your content creators to keep the tools they love while providing users with a lightning-fast, app-like experience. However, headless isn’t right for everyone, so we’ll help you weigh the performance gains against the added complexity to ensure it’s the right strategic move for your budget.

Can you handle custom plugin or module development?

Definitely! Our team consists of senior engineers who can build what doesn’t yet exist.

Many agencies rely solely on third-party plugins, which can lead to plugin bloat and security vulnerabilities. At Kanopi, we write clean, secure, and scalable code to create custom WordPress plugins and Drupal modules tailored to your specific business logic.

Whether you need to integrate a complex third-party API, create a custom data visualization tool, or build a unique member portal, we ensure your custom functionality is built to last through CMS core updates and high-volume traffic.

The Development Process

How long does a typical website build project take?

A high-impact, custom-built website generally takes between 6 to 12 months to build, depending on the complexity and the size of your organization. This timeline is typically broken down into four key phases:

Discovery & Strategy: Understanding your users and defining the roadmap.
User Experience & Design: Creating the look, feel, and flow of the site.
Development & Integration: Building the technical foundation and migrating content.
Testing & Deployment: Rigorous QA and accessibility audits before the big reveal.

We also believe in great project management, which isn’t just about hitting deadlines. Our process prioritizes transparency, keeping your team informed and empowered to succeed. You’ll have a dedicated Project Manager overseeing timelines, deliverables, and day-to-day communication. We use Teamwork to manage tasks and keep the project on track. We also use Slack and Zoom for real-time collaboration and quick alignment. Weekly check-ins keep everything aligned.

How does Kanopi use AI in the web development and design process?

At Kanopi, we recognize that AI is the new way audiences discover your content. Our approach starts with a “machine-ready” foundation: building sites that are fast, accessible, and structured perfectly for both human users and AI crawlers.

We deploy AI-driven solutions across five key pillars:

1. Technical Precision & Health

We use AI tools to audit and optimize the “under the hood” elements that impact visibility:

Deep auditing: Rapidly identifying gaps in crawlability, performance, and metadata.
Performance recovery: Detecting and fixing issues that dilute crawl budget, such as orphaned pages, duplicate content patterns, and redirect gaps.
CMS optimization: Ensuring Drupal and WordPress templates are structured to support consistent indexing.

2. Content Clarity & AI-Readiness

We refine your content architecture so AI systems can accurately interpret and attribute your information:

Scannability: Restructuring pages to answer primary questions early with clear headings and concise summaries.
Entity relationships: Strengthening the links between people, departments, and initiatives so AI models can connect concepts with the proper context.
Ambiguity reduction: Removing “noise” so search engines return your content as the definitive answer.

3. Machine-Readable Signals

We speak the language of search engines by layering in high-value structured data.

Schema enhancement: Incorporating structured data for organizations, news, and events.
Signal standardization: Cleaning up Open Graph metadata and canonical patterns to ensure your brand appears consistently across all platforms.

4. Intelligent Bot Management

Not all crawlers are helpful. We protect your site’s resources by managing how bots interact with your server:

Proactive blocking: Stopping malicious bots at the CDN or WAF layer before they hit your database.
Crawl control: Implementing rate limiting and llms.txt files to guide AI crawlers toward high-value pages while reducing unnecessary server strain.

5. Continuous Iteration

AI-driven optimization isn’t a one-and-done task. We integrate ongoing measurement into our support model:

Data-driven insights: Analyzing search patterns and “zero-result” queries to identify content gaps.
Incremental growth: Maintaining an optimization backlog to ensure your site evolves alongside changing AI algorithms.

Will my website be accessible (WCAG compliant)?

Absolutely. At Kanopi, we believe that the web should be for everyone. Accessibility is baked into every step of our process, from the initial design wireframes to the final lines of code.

We build to WCAG 2.2 AA standards (and often AAA where possible) to ensure your site is usable by people of all abilities. This not only fulfills legal requirements but also improves your SEO and ensures you don’t leave any part of your audience behind.

Who will be my point of contact during the project?

We believe that clear communication is the foundation of a successful build. To ensure you always know where your project stands, you will have two primary leaders guiding you:

The Project Manager (PM): Your PM is your strategic partner and day-to-day point of contact. They handle the how and when of the project, managing the timeline, budget, and resource allocation. They ensure that communication remains fluid between your team and our developers, keeping the project moving.
The Account Manager: While the PM manages the process, your AM is your long-term partner. They align strategy with outcomes, coordinate the team, manage timelines, and ensure you always know what’s happening and why. This model helps keep your project running smoothly while focusing on long-term value.

What do you need from me to get started?

A website is a co-creation. To hit the ground running and avoid bottlenecks later in the process, we ask our clients to come prepared with the following:

A content plan: Content is often the longest lead item in a web project. We need to know who is responsible for writing, migrating, or auditing your content. If you don’t have a clear content strategy or division of labor, we can help you create a game plan, because having a designated content owner on your team is vital.
Brand assets & guidelines: To ensure visual consistency, we’ll need your high-resolution logos, brand style guides, color palettes, and any existing photography or iconography.
Access to existing systems: We require administrative access to your current CMS, Google Analytics, and hosting environment to perform technical audits and prepare your site for the migration.
Interest-holder alignment: We need a clear understanding of who holds the final sign-off authority. Identifying your core decision-makers early prevents late-stage pivots that can impact the timeline and budget.
A clear definition of success: What are the 2-3 things this website must do to be considered a success? Whether it’s increasing donations, improving site speed, or simplifying a complex checkout process, knowing your vision and goals helps us prioritize effectively.

Post-Launch & Support

What happens after the site goes live?

A website is a living product that needs to evolve in tandem with your organization. Once your site launches, you transition to our Support & Continuous Improvement program.

Unlike traditional maintenance, our support is both preventative and proactive. While we certainly handle security updates and bug fixes, we also reserve time each month to help implement new features, run A/B tests, and optimize performance based on real user data. We view ourselves as your long-term digital partners, not just a one-time vendor.

How do you handle security updates for Drupal and WordPress?

We view security as a critical and ongoing conversation. Instead of waiting for a breach to occur, we employ a multi-layered strategy to keep your site fortified against threats:

Timely patching: For Drupal, we align with the official security release window (typically Wednesdays). Our goal is to apply critical security patches as quickly as possible (ideally within 1 to 4 hours of release) to ensure your site isn’t vulnerable once a flaw becomes public knowledge. For WordPress, we monitor core, theme, and plugin vulnerabilities daily and apply updates promptly to mitigate risks.
Proactive monitoring & audits: We perform regular audits of your plugins and modules to prune anything outdated or unnecessary. Fewer plugins mean fewer opportunities for hackers to launch attacks.
Safe deployment workflow: We never test updates on your live site. We use a rigorous Dev-Test-Live workflow. Updates are first applied in a sandbox environment and manually tested for regressions. Only after we’ve confirmed that an update won’t break your custom functionality do we push it to publication.
Managed hosting partnerships: We partner with industry-leading hosting providers, including Pantheon and WP Engine. These platforms provide automated backups, integrated version control, and server-level firewalls, giving your site an extra layer of infrastructure-level security.
Beyond the code: Security is also about people and policy. We help our clients implement best practices, such as Two-Factor Authentication (TFA), strong password policies, and encrypted databases for sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

By including security in our Continuous Improvement retainers, we ensure your site stays safe without ever needing to track a “Security Wednesday” or a WordPress core release yourself.

Will I be able to update my own content?

We’re focused on building websites that are user-friendly for both visitors and backend content creators and site administrators. Your site will be user-friendly for non-technical staff, enabling them to continue updating content and making adjustments that align with your business goals and speed.

Do you offer SEO and performance optimization services?

We build sites that aren’t just visually compelling, but also rank on search engine results pages. We leverage keyword research, metadata optimization, and internal linking maps to ensure your content is visible on search engines like Google. Performance enhancements, such as code optimization and image compression, are a regular part of our support and continuous improvement services.

Pricing & Contracts

Do you offer ongoing maintenance retainers?

Yes. We believe a website is a living entity that requires sustained momentum to serve your mission long term.

Our support is structured as a monthly retainer tailored to your needs. Instead of a fix-it-when-it-breaks model, you get a dedicated Account Manager and a team of experts who proactively manage your site. This includes:

Security patches, core updates, and bug fixes.
Ongoing SEO optimization, accessibility audits, and UX improvements.
Flexible enhancements such as new features, microsites, or staff training.

With a client retention rate of 94%, our goal is to be the last agency you’ll ever need, serving as a true extension of your internal team.

Who owns the code and the website once it’s finished?

You do. Transparency and partnership are central to our values. Once your project is completed and paid for, you have full ownership of the custom code, design assets, and content.

Because we work exclusively with open-source platforms like WordPress and Drupal, you are never locked into a proprietary system. We build your site according to industry best practices, ensuring the code is clean, well-documented, and portable. While we hope to support you far into the future, we also ensure that you always have the keys to your own digital home.