Category: WordPress Configuration

Is your WordPress site legally compliant? Do you know if you are breaking any laws, rules or regulations, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any companies whose products or services you recommend or advertise?

As the digital realm continues growing at an overwhelming speed and the rules of the game constantly change, it’s important that you try to stay informed about what’s happening and to make sure that your site remains legally compliant, especially if having a digital presence is an important aspect of your overall business strategy.

Recent laws introduced in 2014 regulating how businesses promote advertising on their websites clearly state that if you promote anything on your site for commercial gain, then you will need to follow certain principles of disclosure to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by consumer protection agencies, such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Look up “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet to learn more.

(Better Business Bureau – Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program)

The introduction of these laws affect various online business categories, including:

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

If there are no legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy statement, earning disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, digital marketplaces like ClickBank or JVZoo will not allow you to sell digital products, PayPal could close down your account and withhold payment of your funds, Facebook will suspend web applications, and you will not be allowed to promote most advertising or affiliate merchant networks.

If your web presence is not in compliance, you could also face a number of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!

In this guide, we discuss why it’s important to have a legally compliant website and how to quickly and easily add legal pages to your website or blog.

Does Your Site Comply With All Legal Requirements?

Disclaimer: Please note that we are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice about your website or business. As previously stated, this article is designed only to help make you aware that your website may be subject to a number of legal requirements in accordance with federal, regional or local laws that govern business and that compliance may be required with the terms of service of companies whose services or products you recommend on your website

Why It’s Important To Make Your Website Compliant

Is your business at risk? Consider what the implications to your business would be in the following scenarios:

• Someone suffers a cardiac arrest after purchasing your online fitness workout.
• The skin cream you sell as an affiliate marketer gives people allergic reactions.
• Your opt-in list displays a statement letting subscribers know that you will not sell their information, but you haven’t described exactly what you will do with it.
• Someone copies content from your website and publishes it on their own website.
• You haven’t advised your site visitors that you are endorsing a product as an affiliate that you could get paid a financial benefit if they buy it.
• You have not spelled out the terms of your refund/return policies.
• Your visitors claim that the testimonials on your site are misleading and decide to sue you.
• You did not disclose that you were given a free copy of the product in your review.
• Your website publishes adult-related information and you did not take sufficient measures to keep underaged children from accessing it.

Consider too the documented examples of costly compliance breaches listed below:

• A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would have to give up their personal information to complete a debt reduction offer. In addition to a significant $390,000 fine, they’ve also been ordered to give a copy of the judgement to everyone they do business with for the next 20 years — including employees.
• A social networking app developer was slapped with a whopping $800,000 fine for collecting personal information without users’ knowledge and consent – including storing children’s private details.
• Facebook’s Terms Of Service prohibits users from scraping Users IDs. Many marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
• An independent study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred websites chosen at random, more than 90% were breaking at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% were in violation of at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were in violation of 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 cautions 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 easy it is to risk being exposed to non-compliance?

Regardless of whether you are a:

• CPA (Cost Per Action) or CPC (Cost Per Conversion) Marketer
• Network Marketer
• Affiliate Product Promoter
• AdWords User
• Product Publisher
• Amazon Associate
• e-Commerce Store Owner
• Publisher Of Adult Content
• Provider Of Freelance, Coaching Or Consulting Services
• Seller Of Any Service Or Product Online

It’s vitally important to ensure that your website is fully compliant with the law.

Complying With 3rd-Party Services

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

You are required to let your site users know that your website complies with all necessary legal requirements and recommended guidelines. This not only improves trust and confidence in your business, it’s also required in most cases by most companies you interact with online.

For example:

Google requires your site to display legal information if using their services. This includes Google Analytics …

(Policy requirements for using Google Analytics)

Earning revenue with your WordPress blog using Google AdSense ads …

(Google AdSense display advertising - policy requirements)

Or promoting your services using Google AdWords …

(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)

If you sell information-based products through companies like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established merchant networks, you will be required to add certain legal pages to your site before your products are approved for sale in their marketplace …

(Policy requirements for ClickBank product vendors)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires you to include clear disclaimers and policies on your site, especially regarding the use of product testimonials or endorsements …

(FTC – consumer policies and regulations)

FTC Regulations – Ensuring That Your Website Is Compliant

New FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online will easily reveal that many business are unaware (or choose to flaunt) these requirements. As is already the case, this often ends up with the FTC making an example of businesses and prosecuting companies for breaches of regulation in an effort to get other businesses to comply.

If you plan to do any type of business online, therefore, it’s best not to take chances. Even if your business is not physically located in the U.S. you should protect your business interests by making sure that your site is compliant with FTC guidelines.

Various business resources provide guidelines on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your site comply with FTC requirements. See the references and useful resources section at the end of this article for more information …

(You must word your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of laws and regulations)

Social Media Applications Also Have Compliance Requirements

If you are planning to create social networking applications that integrate with your site, social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and many others require you to provide access to your legal pages …

(Apps that interface with social networks also require compliance)

• If you are unsure whether you may be breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of companies like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
• If you are considering promoting services or products on your site via affiliate marketing, or make money online with Google AdSense, Amazon, or eBay advertising, or driving visitors to your website with Google AdWords, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you need to display on your site to comply with their Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts shut down.
• If you have ever wondered if “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, then it’s best to take proper precautions to avoid becoming a litigation magnet.

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

Basic Legal Pages You Should Add To Your Site

If your website or blog lacks in aspects of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.

Adding the following legal pages to your website will help your business keep out of trouble with many regulatory authorities and external providers, and even help to avoid possible legal issues):

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

As well as the pages above, you may want to consider adding one or more of the following pages if applicable:

• Affiliate Disclosure (e.g. if you promote or sell affiliate products and services)
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Financial Disclaimers (if your website provides general information about financial areas or money-making opportunities)
• Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
• Media Terms Of Use (if you provide users with access to media on your site)

Disclosure Pages – Types

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

• No Material Connection – Informs users that you will not receive for writing the article.
• Affiliate Links – Informs your readers that you will derive some form of financial or similar kind of benefit if they act on your recommendation and buy through an affiliate link.
• Review/Sample Copy – Lets readers be aware that you have been given a review or sample copy of the product or service.
• Sponsored Post – Disclosure that lets your readers be aware that you were compensated in some form to write the article.
• Third Party Advertising – Lets users know that you’re using online behavioral tracking technology. This is required to satisfy the “enhanced notice” the Better Business Bureau has been requiring online publishers to display prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.

Adding Legal Content To Your Website

Ideally, you should have a lawyer prepare the content of your legal documents. Once you have this prepared, there are several ways to include them in your website.

Uploading Legal Pages Manually To Your Site

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

We recommend adding a legal directory to your server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this folder using FTP …

(Create a ‘legals’ folder on your server and upload pages using FTP)

You can then add a link to your pages from your WordPress site using custom links in your menu feature …

(Custom WordPress Menu Feature)

Make sure that your legal pages are fully up-to-date and clearly accessible to all site visitors. You can insert these into your sidebar (or place them in the footer of your site) so that visitors have access to the information from all your web pages …

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

We have written a detailed tutorial on displaying links to pages on your WordPress sidebar here:

• How To Add And Configure Widgets In The WordPress Sidebar Menu

Ready-Made Legal Templates

You can find downloadable attorney-drafted disclosures and forms and agreements by searching online, or going to websites like this one:

Find Legal Forms

(FindLegalForms.com – Legal forms)

More information:

• FindLegalForms.com

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

Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

(Website Legal Pages)

These legal templates feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be 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 Legal Pages include:

• Anti-Spam Policy
• Copyright Notice
• Disclaimer
• DMCA Compliance
• Federal Trade Commission Compliance
• Privacy Policy: Google, etc.
• Terms of Service (ToS) & 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 page for every legal form you want to add to your website, then paste the content from the templates into your pages and publish or upload these to your web server as described previously.

To learn more, go here:

• Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

Legal Pages – WordPress Plugins

As well as using legal templates, you can simplify things by using plugins.

Here are some great WordPress plugins that you should check out:

WordPress Legal Pages Plugin

(WordPress Plugin – WordPress Legal Pages)

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

This is not a free plugin, but it’s a reasonably low-priced and well-supported premium WordPress plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your site and save you a great deal of time and effort.

Here are just some of the benefits of using the WordPress Legal Pages plugin:

• Pre-written Templates – Includes over 20 built-in legal page templates created by a team of professional lawyers.
• Very Quick And Easy To Use – Set up most of your basic legal pages in around 3 minutes with a few clicks of the mouse.
• Fully Customizable Pages – The plugin includes fully customizable and completely editable legal form templates (e.g. ToS, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
• Easy To Edit Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit legal pages just like any other page on your website.
• Custom Shortcodes – Add shortcodes to your pages and the information will then be automatically inserted into your pages when you publish.
• Exclude pages. The plugin lets you exclude pages from menus with a simple check box and delete and manage these like any other page on your site.
• Forced Options – Force page lock down. Page unlocks only when the user agrees to your legal terms.
• New Features – New plugin features get added when new versions are released.

When you install WordPress Legal Pages, a new menu feature will display inside your main WordPress dashboard section …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Menu)

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

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Settings Screen)

The plugin gives you the option to create legal pages for different types of sites, such as business websites with products, niche websites, medical sites, etc …

(WP Legal Pages – Page Type)

Choose from several built-in legal templates …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Built-In 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

Visit the plugin website to learn more about using this great plugin:

• WordPress Legal Pages Plugin

Compliance Bar Plugin – Compliance Plugin For WordPress

The Compliance Bar Plugin is a total compliance and disclaimer solution for your website …

For more details go here:

• Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance

Legal Suite Pro Plugin

(Legal Suite Pro Plugin)

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 & Conditions
• Earnings Disclaimer

(Legal Suite Pro For WordPress – 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 one minute or less and the license allows you to install and use this plugin on all of your sites (even sites that you decide to sell).

For more information, go here:

• Legal Suite Pro Plugin

If hiring a lawyer to create your online legal documentation is currently out of your budget, then consider at least implementing some basic form of legal protection on your site until you can afford a lawyer.

We want your site 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 legal documents, or plugins as described in the section below.

(Legal Pages Generator Software)

Legal Pages Generator Software allows you to quickly generate basic legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Statement, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and Earnings Disclaimer.

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As we’ve previously pointed out, if you do business online (or are planning to), it’s important that your site is compliant with regulatory agencies and any terms of service (TOS) and guidelines of third-party sites that you may be promoting or using online. Your website or blog must comply with a wide range of 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 cannot offer legal advice here. Do your own due diligence and consult legal experts about the best way of ensuring that your website is compliant with the law concerning your specific business.

References And Resources

Below is a time-saving list of websites we recommend you visit to help you better understand what your business requires to stay compliant and meet legal requirements and guidelines:

• Federal Trade Commission Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
• FTC 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
• US 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
• Google 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 above to quickly and easily add legal pages to your WordPress site.

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