Is your WordPress website legal? Do you know if your site is breaking the law, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any third-party companies whose services or products you are selling or endorsing?
Online laws, regulations, and guidelines were designed to protect the rights of consumers and apply to anyone who sells, markets or promotes products and services online. Anyone who owns a website risks being sued for not following compliance laws. Feigning ignorance about the law will not prevent someone from taking legal action against your business.
Recent laws introduced in 2014 to regulate how businesses promote advertising on their sites clearly state that if you promote anything on your site for material gain, then you need to follow certain principles of disclosure to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory agencies, such as the (US based) BBB, or Better Business Bureau. Search online for information about “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet for more details.
(Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program – BBB)
The new laws has consequences for various business activities, including:
- Any kind of advertising, e.g. inline advertising, Google Adsense, etc.
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketers
- Product Creators
- Bloggers
- etc.
If there are no legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms of service, privacy policy, earning disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites like Google won’t let you advertise, online merchants like ClickBank won’t allow you to list digital products, PayPal may shut down your account, Facebook will disapprove your web applications, and you will not be allowed to enroll in many advertising and affiliate marketing networks.
If you are not compliant, you could end up facing a number of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
In this guide, we look at why it’s important to have a compliant website and explain inexpensive resources and solutions that will make your WordPress site compliant in minutes.
Is Your Site Breaking The Law?
Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we do not provide legal advice. You must carry out your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way to ensure that your website is compliant with all laws wherever your business is located.
Why Making Your Website Compliant Is Important
Is your business at risk? Consider for one minute what could happen to your business if the situations below were to occur:
- Someone suffers a heart attack after they use your online workout program.
- The skin care creams you promote as an affiliate gives people allergic reactions.
- You’ve let your subscribers know that you will not sell their information, but you have not informed them exactly what you plan to do with their details.
- Someone copies your content and puts it up on their site.
- There is no statement on your site making your visitors aware that you are marketing a product as an affiliate and may get paid financial benefits if visitors purchase it.
- You didn’t spell out the terms of your refund policies.
- Someone claims that the testimonials on your site are false and decides to sue you.
- You haven’t disclosed that you were given a free copy in your product review.
- Your site contains adult content and you have not taken sufficient measures to restrict access by underage persons.
Consider too these real examples of costly compliance breaches:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling visitors they would have to give up personal information to complete an offer they were promoting. In addition to a significant $390,000 fine, they’re now required to give everyone they do business with for the next 20 years, a copy of the judgement — including employees.
- A social networking app developer was slapped with a massive $800,000 fine for collecting personal information from mobile device address books without the owners’ knowledge and consent – including storing private information about children.
- Facebook’s Terms Of Service does not allow users to scrape Users IDs. Many internet marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, resulting thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
- An independently-conducted study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred randomly-picked websites, more than 90% had breached at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% had broken at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% had infringed at least three of Google’s policies. Although the website owners could technically be sued by Google, more than likely what could happen, is that they would be issued with warnings or lose access to the Google program whose policies they had infringed, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).
Can you see how you could be exposed to the risk of litigation through non-compliance?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- PPA (Pay Per Action) Marketer
- MLM Networker
- Affiliate Product Marketer
- AdSense Publisher
- Info Product Marketer
- Amazon Associate
- e-Commerce Store Owner
- Adult Content Publisher
- Provider Of Freelance, Coaching Or Consulting Services
- Online Seller Of Any Service Or Product
It’s vitally important to ensure that your online business remains fully compliant with the law.
Complying With Third-Party Companies - ToS, Policies, etc.
Leading online companies and government agencies that regulate trade emphasize the importance of observing the terms and policies of service providers.
You are obligated to let your visitors know that your website complies will all legal requirements and professional guidelines. This not only improves trust and buyer confidence in your site, it’s also required in many cases by most companies you engage with.
For example:
Google requires your site to display legal information if using many of their products. This includes using Google Analytics …
(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)
Making money online with your websites using Google AdSense …
(Google AdSense advertising policy requirements)
And even promoting your products or services through Google AdWords …
(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)
If you sell information-based products through merchants like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established merchant networks, you will need to add a number of legal pages before they will approve your products for sale …
(Policy requirements for vendors using ClickBank)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires that you include clear disclaimers and policy statements to visitors, especially concerning the use of testimonials or product endorsements …
(FTC – consumer policies and regulations)
FTC Regulations – Ensuring That Your Site Is Compliant
New FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. Search online and you will see that many business are still unaware (or choose to ignore) these requirements. As has happened in the past, this typically prompts the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute companies in an effort to get other businesses to comply.
If you plan to do any kind of selling online, therefore, it’s best not to take any chances. Even if your business is not physically located in the U.S. you should protect your business interests by ensuring that your site is compliant with all FTC guidelines.
You can find many online resources that can provide guidelines and examples for structuring disclaimers and disclosures to help your site comply with FTC requirements. We provide a number of references and links to resources at the end of this article …
(You must word your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of laws and regulations)
Don’t Forget Social Media Apps
If you plan to develop apps for your site users, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and many others require you to provide information about your legal pages …
(Facebook developer app – policy requirements)
- If you are not sure whether you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of companies like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
- If you plan to promote services or products on your site as an affiliate marketer, or generate revenue with Google AdSense, eBay or Amazon ads, or driving visitors to your website with Google AdWords, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you are required to include on your site to comply with their Terms Of Service and policy requirements - don’t risk having your accounts suspended.
- If you have been wondering whether “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, then it’s best to act now and take proper precautions to avoid becoming a litigation magnet.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all 3rd-party services require you to comply with their terms of use and policies)
Common Legal Pages To Add To Your Website
If your website or blog is lacking in aspects of compliance, then this section will help you.
Adding the following legal pages to your site should help you keep out of trouble with most regulatory authorities and third-party service providers, and avoid potential legal issues):
- About Us Page
- Contact Us
- Privacy Statement
- Terms Of Use
- Website Disclaimer Pages
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
As well as the above, you may want to consider adding any of these legal pages:
- Affiliate Agreement (e.g. if you provide an affiliate program)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- External Linking Policy
- Financial Disclaimers (if your website provides financial advice)
- Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
- Video/Audio Terms (e.g. if you provide users with access to downloadable media on your site)
Disclosure Pages – Types
Adding correct disclosure information is important. For example:
- No Material Connection – Disclosure that informs readers that you are not receiving compensation for writing the post.
- Affiliate Links – Lets your readers be aware that you will derive some form of financial or similar type of benefit if they buy through your affiliate links.
- Sample Or review Copy – Disclosure that informs site users that you have received a review or sample copy of the product.
- Sponsored Post – Disclosure that lets users be aware that you have been compensated in some way to write the content.
- Third Party Advertising – Lets your visitors know that you’re using online behavioral tracking technology. This is required to satisfy the “enhanced notice” the Better Business Bureau has been requiring website publishers to display prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.
How To Add Legal Pages To Your Website
Ideally, you will consult lawyers or a legal firm and ask them to prepare the verbiage of your legal documents. Once these have been done, there are several ways to include them in your website.
Uploading Legal Pages Manually
If someone prepares the legal verbiage for you as standard web pages (e.g. HTML), you can simply upload these to your site, or have someone upload them for you.
We recommend adding a legals directory to your server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this folder (e.g. using FTP) …
(Upload legal pages to your web server using FTP)
You can then easily add a link to your legal pages in WordPress using a custom WordPress menu …
(WordPress Menu)
Displaying Legal Pages On Your Site
Make sure that your legal pages are fully up-to-date and clearly accessible to your visitors. You can add these to your WordPress sidebar (or place them in the footer of your website) to ensure that users will be able to access the information from every page …
(It’s important to display legal pages to visitors on all of your website’s pages)
To learn more about adding links to pages on your sidebar or footer in WordPress, see this tutorial:
Use Ready-Made Templates
You can easily find downloadable attorney-drafted website forms and agreements by searching online, or by visiting websites like the ones listed below:
Find Legal Forms
More info:
Another option is to purchase a set of cut & paste website legal templates created by attorney Scott Talbert to protect businesses online …
Cut And Paste Website Legal Pages
(Website Legal Pages)
These templates were written by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be easily customized with a simple quick search and replace to add your own business name and URL, then pasted into your web pages.
The legal forms included in Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Page Templates include:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- Disclaimer
- DMCA Compliance
- Federal Trade Commission Compliance
- Privacy Policy
- ToS & Conditions of Use: includes inter- & intra-page redundancy, Contra Proferentem provision, reservation of rights, and exclusive social media admonition.
You can either create a new WordPress page for each legal form you want to add to your site, then paste the content from the templates into your pages and publish or upload these to your server as described earlier.
Go here for more information:
WordPress Plugins – Legal Pages
In addition to using templates, you can simplify things by using WordPress plugins.
Here are some WordPress plugins worth looking into:
WP Legal Pages
(WordPress Plugin – WordPress Legal Pages)
If you don’t want to spend time creating legal web pages manually, then consider using WordPress Legal Pages …
This plugin is not free, but it’s a low-priced and well-supported plugin that will help simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your website and save you loads of headaches.
Some of the benefits of using WordPress Legal Pages plugin are:
- Built-in Legal Templates – The plugin gives you access to over 20 built-in legal page templates created by professional lawyers.
- Very Quick And Easy To Use – You can set up most of the basic legal pages you need in around 3 minutes with just a few mouse clicks.
- Fully Customizable Pages – Includes fully customizable and easily editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms of Use, Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy Policy and more!)
- Editable Pages – Content editor lets you edit legal pages just like any other WP page.
- Custom Shortcodes Integration – Add shortcodes to your website or blog pages and the information will be automatically inserted into your content when you publish.
- Exclude pages. The plugin lets you exclude pages from menus with a simple checkbox and delete and manage these like any WordPress page.
- Forced Options – Force page lockdown. Page unlocks when users agree to your legal terms.
- Additional Features – New plugin features get added when new versions are released.
After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a menu item will be added to your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Legal Pages – Menu)
This allows you to create, edit and view legal pages from your admin area …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Settings Screen)
You can create legal pages for different online uses, such as business websites, review websites, Amazon sites, etc …
(WP Legal Pages – Page type dropdown menu)
Choose from several pre-written legal templates …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Pre-configured Templates)
Legal page templates include:
- Terms of Use (Users are forced to agree to Terms and Conditions before using site)
- Linking Policy
- External Links Policy
- Terms and Conditions
- Refund Policy
- Affiliate Disclosure
- Privacy Policy
- Affiliate Agreement
- Facebook Privacy Policy
- Earnings Disclaimer
- Antispam Policy
- DoubleClick DART Cookies Policy
- Disclaimer Template
- FTC Disclosure Statement Template
- Medical Disclaimer Template
- Testimonials Disclosure – As per FTC guidelines
- Amazon Affiliate Disclosure Template
- DMCA Policy Template
- California Privacy Rights Policy Template
- Digital Goods Refund Policy Template
- COPPA – Children’s Online Privacy Policy Template
- Blog Comments Policy Template
- Newsletter Subscription Policy and Disclaimer Template
- FTC Disclaimer Widget
Go here for more details about using this plugin:
Compliance Bar Plugin – Website Compliance Plugin For WordPress
Compliance Bar is a simple plugin for WordPress websites and blogs with over twenty customizable legal templates for your online business …
Go here to learn more:
Legal Suite Pro Plugin
(Legal Suite Pro For WordPress)
Legal Suite Pro Plugin For WordPress lets you easily install professionally-written legal pages such as:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- DMCA Compliance
- FTC Compliance
- Privacy Policy
- Social Media Disclosure
- Medical Disclaimer
- Terms & Conditions
- Earnings Disclaimer
(Legal Suite Pro – Professionally-written legal forms)
Additionally:
- Drag & Drop FTC Disclaimer Widget: Add an FTC Disclaimer to any WordPress sidebar or widget area.
- Customizable EU Cookie Compliance Bar: Display an EU cookie compliance bar if you are getting traffic from the EU and your sites use cookies.
With just one-click you can install almost all of the legal pages your site needs and these professionally written legal pages can be created in your theme and/or as a standalone page outside of your theme.
The plugin developers secured rights to high quality, professionally written legal disclaimers and packaged them into a plugin that can be installed quickly on any WordPress powered site. You can have legal pages installed and set up on your site in one minute or less and the license allows you to install and use the plugin on all of your sites (even sites that you decide to sell or flip).
More info:
If using the services of legal experts to create your legal pages is currently out of your budget, consider implementing at least some basic type of legal protection on your website until you can afford a solicitor.
We want your business to be protected!
Download the FREE Legal Pages Generator tool below, or consider choosing one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal templates, or plugins as described in the section below.
(Legal Pages Generator Software)
Legal Pages Generator Software allows you to quickly generate necessary legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Policy, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and optional Earnings Disclaimer.
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As we’ve previously pointed out, if you make money online (or are planning to), it’s important that your website remains compliant with all government legal requirements and any terms of service and guidelines provided by 3rd-party services and products that you may decide to promote or endorse online. Your website or blog must comply with numerous laws and regulatory guidelines, some of which you may not be aware of.
Being non-compliant puts you at risk of suffering both financial losses and the loss of your reputation. Why risk your money and reputation, when you can protect yourself so inexpensively?
Disclaimer: Once again, please note that we are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice. You must do your own due diligence and consult legal experts to ensure that your website fully complies with all legal requirements concerning your specific business.
References And Resources
Below is a useful list of additional sites we recommend you visit to better understand what your business requires to stay compliant and meet its legal obligations:
- FTC Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
- FTC Advertising & Marketing Rules Of the Road
- FTC Advertising And Marketing On The Internet
- Better Business Bureau – Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program
- Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising
- Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act
- CAN-SPAM Act Guide
- Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule
- FTC Regulatory Review Web Page
- FTC Rules and Guides Currently Under Review
- The Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force – Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework
- FTC Staff Report: Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising
- FTC Final Guides Governing Endorsements and Testimonials
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- United States Copyright Office
Additionally …
- Google Analytics Help – Policy requirements for Google Analytics Advertising Features
- Google AdSense Program Policies Explained
- AdSense Help – Required Content
- Google AdWords – Information Collection And Use
- AdWords Help – What to include in your privacy policy for remarketing
- ClickBank – Creating Your First Product
- Facebook Platform Policies
We hope you have found this article useful and that it has helped you understand the importance of having a compliant website. Use the information provided above to quickly add essential legal pages to your website.
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com