Need support?
Submit a ticket and we’ll be in touch as quickly as possible. You can also email [email protected] or open a ticket in the Client Portal.
Support and managed services at a glance
TopOut Group supports, hosts and provides managed services for our clients. The comparison below covers both Website Support and Hosting Managed Services. The rest of this policy describes each in more detail.
| Question | Website Support | Hosting Managed Services |
|---|---|---|
| What requests does it cover? |
|
|
| Does TopOut Group have to host my site? | Generally, yes. However, we do support a few sites that we don’t host. | Generally, yes. However, we provide managed services for clients that control website hosting at WP Engine, Kinsta or Pantheon. |
| What are the fees? | $185 per hour. We don’t charge for issues and bugs that we caused. | Annual fee. We charge hourly for some work outlined below. |
| What agreement covers this work? | This Support Policy | The Managed Website and Hosting Services Agreement and the Hosting Managed Services section of this policy |
| Who do I contact? | The TopOut Group Support Team, for anything related to Website Support or Hosting Managed Services. | |
Updated June 15, 2025: the hourly rate for support and managed services is $185 per hour.
Website support services
Clients can contact TopOut Group for the following Website Support services:
- Issues or problems with the website not performing as expected (for example, broken forms, errors or pages not displaying correctly)
- Editing, revising or updating page and product content, including text, images and SEO-related content
- Editing, revising or updating templates on existing website pages
- New web page and email templates based on the existing design
- Modifications and minor enhancements to existing functions, forms and features on the existing website
- Consultation, guidance and training on using the website and content management system
- Basic configuration and support for Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Google Search Console
- Support and updates for third-party tools and applications used on the website and integrated by TopOut Group (for example, WordPress, Drupal, Constant Contact, Marketo, HubSpot, Pardot, Salesforce, Instagram and jQuery)
Request types
Support requests fall into one of these categories:
- Emergency: any serious problem with the website
- Mission-critical features or pages are not available
- E-commerce errors
- The website is not available for non-server or non-data-center reasons (for example, a CMS configuration issue, DNS issue, expired domain or client network error)
- Technical issue: any problem with the website not performing as it was originally developed
- A form is broken
- Page contents do not display as designed
- Integration errors
- PCI compliance audit or troubleshooting
- Support assistance: any request for help explaining or using the website or tools
- “How to” questions
- Content management system assistance
- User logins and password management
- SEO and analytics consultations
- Change request: any request that involves less than 4 hours of work*, for example:
- WordPress and Drupal plugin or module installation
- Updates to integrated third-party tools and applications
- Modifications and minor enhancements to existing functions, forms and features
- Content changes not possible with the content management system
*Requests estimated at over 4 hours
TopOut Group has Web Strategists and an Enhancement Team for work that doesn’t fit the Support Team because of its size and nature. Your Web Strategist advises you on the requested work and provides a proposed approach, costs and timeline in a Statement of Work.
Cost and terms
TopOut Group charges $185 per hour for all support services, in 30-minute increments. We don’t intend to invoice for every minute and use our discretion when charging for requests. There is no charge to:
- Fix something that is broken because of errors and omissions on the part of TopOut Group (see Errors and omissions)
- Respond to and resolve hosting issues for TopOut Group–hosted websites when the client has an active Website Hosting and Managed Services Agreement (see Hosting managed services)
Errors and omissions
TopOut Group doesn’t set a specific warranty period for websites because we take accountability for fixing our errors and omissions, whenever they surface. Sometimes, though, issues arise that we didn’t cause. We’re ready, willing and able to help fix every issue, but we charge for the ones we don’t cause. These common issues are not considered errors and omissions, and we charge to resolve them:
- Browser and third-party tool updates – Browsers and third-party tools are updated regularly, and older versions may no longer be supported. This can cause a website feature to break or not perform as expected.
- Website changes and updates – You or another party make changes to the website that require further updates or fixes.
- Content management systems – Websites need ongoing maintenance because the content management system is updated for security, browsers change website standards, and for other reasons. Issues may be caused by changes to the CMS (for example, Drupal and WordPress), or by new or updated third-party software, including upgrades, themes, plugins, modules, or WordPress and Drupal modifications or customizations.
- Integrated third-party APIs – Issues may be caused by changes to third-party APIs (for example, Google Tag Manager, tracking codes, third-party JavaScript, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr or Constant Contact). Issues caused by or in combination with new or updated third-party software are not considered errors and omissions.
Hosting managed services
TopOut Group works with hosting partners WP Engine, Pantheon, Kinsta and Cloudways to perform the managed services described in this policy. The TopOut Group Support Team is your contact for all managed services.
Managed services are part of the Website Hosting and Managed Services Agreement. If you have an active agreement, TopOut Group does not charge additional fees when you contact us about the hosting and managed services listed below, with one exception: if upgrades to the CMS, modules or plugins cause website issues, we charge to troubleshoot and fix those issues. The services included are:
- Website availability – Monitoring website and server uptime, website and server security, and server performance. TopOut Group uses industry-standard monitoring tools and security software, and relies on our hosting partners (WP Engine, Pantheon, Kinsta and Cloudways) to keep websites available 24/7.
- Website performance – Troubleshooting website performance related to server issues. TopOut Group is accountable for the performance of websites we developed that are hosted by our hosting partners. Hosting support for TopOut Group–developed websites hosted by other providers is the responsibility of the client and/or that hosting provider.
- Website CMS maintenance – Proactive upgrades of core versions, plugins and modules. TopOut Group upgrades the core versions of WordPress and Drupal with the frequency and urgency each code release calls for. The Support Team typically updates WordPress and Drupal plugins and modules every 3 months, and applies emergency security updates when plugin or module developers issue notifications, so websites stay secure and compatible with the latest core versions. Troubleshooting and fixing issues caused by an update is not included in managed services; we charge for this work and discuss the issues, plan and estimated fees with you before doing any of it.
- Server administration – Server configuration changes and server software updates, backups and restores, and development and staging environments.
- Hosting partner communication – Consulting and support communication with the hosting partners responsible for any of the services above.
- Server and website security – TopOut Group and the client are both responsible for following best practices for creating and storing passwords.
Issue types
Managed services issues typically fall into one of these categories:
- Outage
- The website is down (for example, high traffic, a server issue or a database issue)
- Hardware or network failure
- Insufficient memory or file storage
- Security issue: any security or compliance-related issue
- PCI compliance consulting for server environments, audit or troubleshooting
- Compromised user account
- Compromised website code or content
- Website hosting changes: any hosting environment change to improve performance because of:
- Increased website traffic
- Insufficient data or file storage
- Data center issues
- Uptime availability
- CMS maintenance: updates to the CMS, plugins and modules
- WordPress and Drupal core subversion updates
- WordPress and Drupal plugin and module updates
Process and service level expectations
The TopOut Group Support Team handles every managed services request using the support process below. For response and resolution times:
- Outages and security issues are treated as Emergency requests.
- Website hosting changes and CMS maintenance are treated as Change requests.
Service level expectations
Confirmation response and resolution times
| Request type | Response time | Resolution time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | Weekends & holidays | ||
| Emergency | 30 minutes | 1 hour | ASAP |
| Technical issue | 2 hours | 4 hours | 1–2 business days |
| Support assistance | 4 hours | By 10am CST next business day | 1–4 business days |
| Change request | 1 day | By 12pm CST next business day | 3–5 business days |
Support team hours
Our Support Team monitors for requests from 8:00am to 10:00pm CST every day.
Responses to non-emergency requests received after 3:00pm CST or on holidays may be delayed until the next business day.
Access and authorization
To provide these services, TopOut Group needs authorized access to:
- Your web hosting account
- WordPress, Drupal or Shopify
- Your domain registrar and DNS (if applicable)
- Social media accounts (for example, Facebook and Twitter)
- Third-party tools and applications (for example, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, your email service provider, video hosting services and Flickr)
How to request support
Here’s how to submit a support request and escalate it if you need to:
Submit a support ticket. Use the support ticket form, email [email protected], or open a ticket in the Client Portal. Every form submission, email and voicemail goes to our entire Support Team.
Receive a confirmation. Our Support Team confirms your request within the response times above.
Escalate if you need to. If your request isn’t addressed to your satisfaction, you can:
- Call your Web Strategist
- Contact our Web Director
- Contact anyone you know at TopOut Group. They’ll make sure your request is handled quickly and by the right specialists.