Category: Website Planning

Is your WordPress site legal? Do you know if your site is breaking any rules or regulations, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any companies whose services or products you advertise or endorse?

Internet laws are designed to protect consumers and apply to any person 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 legal requirements won’t prevent someone from taking legal action against you.

New laws introduced in 2014 regulating how businesses promote advertising on their websites clearly state that if you promote anything on your website for profit, you must follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by consumer protection agencies, such as the US-based Better Business Bureau (BBB). Look up “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet for more details.

(Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program)

The new laws affect various business categories, including:

• Any kind of advertising, e.g. Google AdSense
• Retarget Marketing
• Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
• Affiliate Marketers
• Product Creation
• Blogging
• etc.

Without legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy policy, financial disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites like Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank will not allow you to list digital products, PayPal could suspend your account and withhold payment of your funds, Facebook could suspend web applications, and you won’t be allowed to promote a range of advertising or online merchant networks.

Plus, you may also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to litigation.

The purpose of this guide is to make you aware that your website(s) are required to comply with legal requirements in accordance with the laws that govern your business, the importance of maintaining compliance with the terms of service of 3rd-party providers whose services or products you may be recommending on your site, and that there are plugin-based solutions for WordPress that can help your sites become more compliant, such as the tools discussed further below.

Does Your Site Comply With All Legal Requirements?

Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice on this website. Do your own due diligence and we recommend consulting legal experts about the best way to ensure that your website is compliant with all laws and regulations wherever your business is based.

Why Having A Compliant Website Is Important

Is your business at risk? Consider what the implications to your business would be if the scenarios below were to occur:

• A person has a heart attack after they use your online fitness workout.
• The skin care creams you sell as an affiliate marketer gives someone who purchases from your link an allergic reaction.
• Your opt-in list provides a statement letting subscribers know that you won’t sell their information, but you have not spelled out exactly what you will do with the information you’ve collected.
• Someone copies your content and puts it up on their site.
• There is no statement on your website letting your site visitors know that you are promoting a product as an affiliate and may get paid a commission if visitors end up purchasing through your affiliate link.
• You have not spelled out the conditions of your refund and return policies.
• A visitor claims that the testimonials on your site are all fake and decides to sue you.
• You haven’t disclosed that you have received a free copy of the product in your review.
• Your site contains adult-related information and you did not take 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 their personal information (including credit card information to complete his offer. Cost = $390,000.
• 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 details about children.
• Facebook’s Terms Of Service does not allow users to scrape Users IDs. Many internet marketers gambled that they could get away with it and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
• An independently-conducted study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred websites chosen at random, more than 90% had breached at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% had infringed at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were in breach of at least 3 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 cautions or lose access to the Google program they had infringed, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).

Can you see how you could become exposed to the risk of litigation?

Regardless of whether you are a:

• CPC (Cost Per Conversion) Marketer
• Multilevel Marketer
• Affiliate Product Marketer
• AdSense Publisher
• Info Product Marketer
• Amazon Affiliate
• e-Commerce Store Owner
• Publisher Of Adult Content
• Freelancer, Consultant Or Coach
• Seller Of Any Product Or Service Online

You need to do whatever is necessary to make sure that your online business remains legally compliant.

Complying With 3rd-Party Companies Terms And Policies

Leading online companies and government agencies that regulate trade in most countries emphasize the need and importance of complying with the terms and policies of 3rd-party service providers.

You are obligated to let your site users know that your business complies with all necessary laws and recommended guidelines. This not only increases trust and confidence in your business, it’s also required in many cases by most companies you engage with online.

Here are just some examples:

Google requires your site to display certain information when using their services and product features. This includes using Google Analytics …

(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)

Generating revenue online with your online properties with Google AdSense online advertising …

(Google AdSense advertising - policy requirements)

And even promoting your services or products through Google AdWords …

(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)

If you plan to sell information-based products with companies such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant sites, you will be required to add legal pages to your site before they will approve your products for selling via their network …

(Policy requirements digital product vendors selling through ClickBank)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires you to add clear disclaimers and policies on your site, especially when using testimonials or product endorsements …

(Federal Trade Commission – consumer guidelines and regulations)

FTC Regulations Require Your Site To Comply

FTC regulations governing the conduct of doing business online were introduced in March 2012. Search online and you will see that many sites are still unaware (or choose to ignore) these requirements. As has already been the case, this often prompts the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute site owners for breaches of regulation in an effort to get other businesses to comply.

If you do any type of selling online, therefore, it’s best not to take chances. Even if your business is not physically located in the U.S. we strongly recommend protecting your business by making sure that your site complies with all FTC regulations and guidelines.

There are many resources online that can provide guidelines and examples on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help you meet FTC requirements. We provide additional references at the end of this article …

(Structuring your disclaimers and disclosures correctly is important to avoid running foul of laws and regulations)

Don’t Forget Social Media Applications

If you are planning to create applications that will integrate with your website, you will also be required to provide social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and others with access to your legal pages …

(Social networking apps also require compliance)

• If you are not sure whether you may be breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of organizations like Google, Facebook, etc., it’s best to assume that you most probably are.
• If you are considering promoting anything on your site as an affiliate marketer, or monetize your pages with Google AdSense, eBay or Amazon ads, or driving visitors to your site with Google AdWords, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you need to include on your site to comply with their Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts suspended.
• If you have been wondering if “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, then it’s best to act now and take proper precautions to protect yourself and your business.

(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all 3rd-party websites require you to comply with their policies)

What Compliance Information Do I Need To Add To My Site To Be Legally Compliant?

If your website is falling short in areas of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.

Adding the following legal pages to your site will help you stay out of trouble with many consumer protection agencies and external providers, and help to avoid potential legal issues or even threats of legal action (e.g. “cease and desist” notices):

• About Us
• Contact Us
• Privacy Statement
• Terms & Conditions
• Disclaimers
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance

In addition to the above pages, you may want to look into adding one or more of the following pages if applicable:

• Affiliate Agreement (if you sell products or services through an affiliate program)
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• External Linking Policy
• Health Disclaimers (e.g. if your website provides general advice about health or medical areas)
• Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
• Audio/Video Terms (e.g. if you allow media downloads on your site)

Types Of Disclosure Pages

Adding the correct type of disclosure is important. For example:

• No Material Connection – Informs users that you will not receive for writing the content.
• Affiliate Links – Lets your readers know that you will receive compensation if they act on your recommendation and purchase through affiliate links on your site.
• Sample Or review Copy – Lets site users be aware that you have been given a review or sample copy of the product you’re writing about.
• Sponsored Post – Informs your readers that you have been compensated in some form to write the content.
• Third Party Advertising – Informs visitors that you’re using online behavioral tracking technology. This is required to comply with the “enhanced notice” the Better Business Bureau has been requiring website publishers to display prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.

Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Ideally, you should consult lawyers or a legal firm and ask them to prepare the verbiage of your legal documents. Once you have this prepared, there are several ways to include them in your website.

Uploading Legal Pages Manually

If someone prepares the legal content for you in HTML format, you can simply upload these to your web server, or have someone upload them for you.

We recommend creating a legal directory in your server and uploading your legal pages to this directory (e.g. via FTP) …

(Upload legal pages to your server using FTP)

You can then easily add links to your legal pages in WordPress using custom links in your menu admin area …

(WordPress Menu)

After uploading your legal pages, make sure that these are up-to-date and clearly accessible to visitors. You can insert links to your legal pages into your sidebar menu (or place them in the footer of your website) to ensure that visitors have access to the information from every page …

(It’s important to display links to legal pages on all of your website’s pages)

If you need help displaying links to pages on your WP sidebar using widgets, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Store-Bought Legal Templates

You can easily find attorney-drafted disclosures and downloadable forms and agreements just by searching online, or by visiting sites like this one:

Find Legal Forms

(Find Legal Forms – Legal forms)

More information:

• FindLegalForms.com

Another option is to purchase a set of cut and paste website legal templates created by legal attorney Scott Talbert to help businesses protect themselves online …

Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

(Scott Talbert’s Legal Pages)

These legal templates were written by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be customized with search and replace to add your own business details, then pasted into your web pages.

The legal templates included in Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Form Templates include:

• Anti-Spam Policy
• Copyright Notice
• Disclaimer (multi-discipline professional disclaimers)
• DMCA Compliance
• FTC Compliance
• Privacy Policy: Google & DoubleClick DART, etc.
• Terms of Service & Conditions of Use: with 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 website, then paste the content from the templates into your pages and publish or upload your legal pages to your server as described earlier.

For more information, visit this site:

• Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages – Website Legal Pages

Legal Page Plugins

In addition to using copy & paste templates, another option for adding legal pages to your site is to use plugins.

Here are some great WordPress plugins you may be interested in using:

WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress

(WordPress Legal Pages)

If setting up legal pages manually seems too time-consuming for you, then consider installing a plugin like WordPress Legal Pages …

This plugin is not free, but it’s a reasonably low-priced and well-supported premium plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your website and save you many headaches.

Some of the benefits of using WordPress Legal Pages plugin are:

• Pre-written 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 legal pages you will need in a few minutes with a few clicks of the mouse.
• Customizable Pages – The plugin includes customizable and easy to edit legal form templates (e.g. Terms of Use, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
• Easy To Edit Pages – WYSIWYG editor lets you edit legal pages like every other WordPress page.
• Shortcodes – You can add shortcodes to your WordPress pages and the information is then automatically inserted into your content when you publish.
• Exclude pages. Exclude pages from menus with a simple check box and delete and manage these like any other WordPress page.
• Forced Options – Force page or post lock down. When users agree to the legal terms, the page unlocks, giving them access.
• New Features – New plugin features get added when new versions are released.

After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a menu feature will be added to your navigation menu section …

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Menu)

This allows you to create, edit and view legal pages from your admin area …

(WP Legal Pages – Settings Screen)

You have the option of creating legal pages for different online uses, such as business websites, review sites, e-commerce sites, etc …

(WordPress Legal Pages – Create different legal pages)

Select from a number of pre-written legal templates …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Pre-configured Legal 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

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, visit the plugin website:

• WordPress Legal Pages Plugin

Compliance Bar – Website Compliance Plugin For WordPress

complete website compliance and disclaimer solution …

Learn more here:

• Compliance Bar – WP Compliance Plugin

Legal Suite Pro

(Legal Suite Pro)

This plugin 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 of Use
• 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 site. Your legal pages can be installed and set up on your site in less than one minute 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 information:

• Legal Suite Pro Plugin

If hiring legal experts to create your online legal documentation is out of your budget, then consider implementing at least some basic kind of legal protection on your website until you can afford professional assistance from a lawyer.

We want your website to be protected!

Download the FREE Legal Pages Generator software below, or use one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal forms, or a plugin as described in the section below.

(Legal Pages Generator)

Legal Pages Generator Software allows you to easily generate necessary legal documents for your website including Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and optional Earnings Disclaimer.

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As we’ve previously pointed out, if you engage in any form of commercial activity online, it’s important that your website is compliant with all government regulations and any terms of service and guidelines required by third-party sites that you may decide to promote or advertise online. Your website must comply with various regulations, many of which you may not even 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, we are not lawyers and we offer no legal advice on this website. You are strongly advised to do your own due diligence and consult legal experts to ensure that your website is compliant with all legal requirements pertaining to your specific business.

References And Legal Resources

Here is a time-saving list of additional sites we suggest you visit to better understand what your business requires to comply and meet its legal obligations:

• Federal Trade Commission Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
• Federal Trade Commission Advertising & Marketing Rules Of the Road
• FTC Advertising And Marketing On The Internet
• 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
• US Copyright Office

And …

• 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

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand why it’s important to have a compliant website. Use the information presented above to quickly and easily add essential legal pages to your website or blog.

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