Is your WordPress website legal? Do you know if your site is breaking any laws, rules or regulations, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any 3rd-party companies whose services or products you are advertising or recommending?
Online laws, regulations, and guidelines were designed to protect consumers and apply to anyone who sells, markets or promotes goods and services online. Every website owner risks being sued for not following compliance laws. Feigning ignorance about the law won’t excuse you from being slapped with a legal notice.
Recent laws introduced in 2014 that regulate how businesses promote advertising on their sites clearly state that if you promote anything on your website for profit, then you will need to follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory agencies, such as the US-based Better Business Bureau (BBB). Do a search online for “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet to learn more.
(Better Business Bureau Website)
The introduction of these new laws has implications for various business categories, including:
- Any kind of advertising, e.g. Google AdWords or AdSense
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Product Creation
- Blogging
- etc.
If your site does not display certain pages to visitors (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy policy, financial disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, online merchants like ClickBank will not allow you to list digital products, PayPal could suspend your account, Facebook could suspend web applications, and you won’t be allowed to enroll in many advertising or affiliate marketing networks.
If your digital presence is not in compliance, you could also face a multitude of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
The purpose of this article is to make you aware that your website are subject to legal requirements, the importance of maintaining compliance with the terms of service of third-party providers whose services or products you may be recommending on your website, and that there are easy solutions that can help your websites become more compliant, such as the plugins that we list further below.
Does Your Site Comply With All Legal Requirements?
Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we do not provide 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 certain legal policies in accordance with the laws and regulations governing business online and that compliance may be required with the terms of service of providers whose products or services you advertise
Why It’s Important To Make Your Website Compliant
Consider what the implications to your business would be if the following scenarios were to happen:
- A person suffers a heart attack after using your online fitness workout.
- The skin care lotion you sell as an affiliate marketer gives someone skin rashes.
- You’ve let your subscribers know that you won’t sell their information, but you have not described exactly what you’ll do with the details you’ve collected.
- Someone copies your content and publishes it on their own site.
- There is no statement on your website or blog letting visitors know that you are recommending a product as an affiliate and could get paid a financial benefit if they purchase it.
- You didn’t spell out the terms and conditions of your refund/return policies.
- A visitor claims the testimonials on your site are fake and decides to sue you because of it.
- You did not disclose that you were given a free copy in a product review.
- Your site contains adult information and you haven’t taken sufficient measures to restrict access by underaged children.
Consider also the real case studies of costly compliance breaches below:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling visitors they would have to give up their personal information (including credit card info to complete his offer. Cost = $390,000.
- A social networking app developer copped a massive $800,000 fine for collecting personal information from mobile device address books without the owners’ knowledge and consent – including storing children’s private details.
- Facebook’s Terms Of Service prohibits using software that scrapes UIDs. Many marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, resulting thousands of $$$ in lost revenue.
- An independently-conducted 2010 study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred websites chosen at random, more than 90% were in violation of at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% had breached at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% had breached 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 notices or lose access entirely to the Google program with the infringement, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).
Can you see how easy it is to be exposed to the risk of non-compliance?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- CPA Marketer
- Multilevel Marketer
- Affiliate Marketer
- AdSense Publisher
- Product Publisher
- Amazon Affiliate
- e-Commerce Store Owner
- Publisher Of Adult Content
- Freelancer, Consultant Or Coach
- Seller Of Any Service Or Product Online
It’s imperative to ensure that your website or blog is legally compliant.
Compliance With 3rd-Party Services - 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 must let your site users know that your business complies will all laws and professional guidelines. This not only improves trust and confidence in your website, it’s also required in most cases by most companies you will interact with online.
For example:
Google requires your site to display certain information if using their services. This includes using features such as Google Analytics …
(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)
Generating revenue online with your blog with Google AdSense online advertising …
(Google AdSense ads - policy requirements)
And even promoting your business via Google AdWords …
(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)
If you sell information products using merchants such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established merchant sites, you are required to add various legal pages to your website before your products can be approved for selling via their network …
(Policy requirements for ClickBank digital product vendors)
The Federal Trade Commission also requires you to add clear disclaimers and statements on your website, especially when concerning the use of product testimonials or endorsements …
(FTC – consumer policies and regulations)
FTC Regulations – Ensure That Your Website Is Compliant
FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. Search online and you will see that many sites are unaware (or choose to ignore) these requirements. As is already the case, this often ends up with the FTC making an example of businesses and prosecuting companies in an effort to get other businesses to comply.
If you plan to do any type of selling online, therefore, it’s best not to take chances. Even if your business is not located in the U.S. we strongly recommend protecting your business by making sure that your website complies with FTC regulations and guidelines.
You can find many online business resources that can provide guidelines and examples for structuring disclaimers and disclosures to help your site meet FTC requirements. See the resources section at the end of this article for more information …
(You must structure your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of the law)
Social Media Apps Also Require Compliance
If you are planning to develop apps that integrate with your site, you will also be required to provide sites like Facebook, Twitter, and many others with information about various legal pages …
(Facebook developer app – policy requirements)
- If you are unsure as to whether you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of websites like Google, Facebook, etc., then assume that you most probably are.
- If you plan to promote services or products on your site using affiliate marketing, or making money online with Google AdSense, ads for Amazon or eBay products, or driving visitors to your website with Google AdWords, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you are required to provide on your site to comply with all Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts terminated.
- If you’ve 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 interests.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, most third-party services require you to comply with their terms of use and policies)
What Compliance Information Pages Does My Website Need To Be Protected From Legal Compliance Issues?
If you suspect that your web site is lacking in terms of compliance, then this section will help you.
At its most basic, adding the following legal pages to your site will help your site keep out of trouble with many consumer protection authorities and external providers, and help to avoid potential legal issues or even threats of legal action (e.g. “take down” notices):
- About Us Page
- Contact Us
- Privacy Statement
- Terms & Conditions
- Disclaimers
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
Additionally, you may want to consider implementing one or more of these pages:
- Affiliate Disclosure (e.g. if you promote or sell affiliate products and services)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Earnings Disclaimer
- External Links Policy
- Health Disclaimers (if your website provides general health or medical information)
- Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
- Use Of Media (if you allow media downloads on your site)
Types Of Disclosure Pages
Adding the right disclosure information is important. For example:
- No Material Connection – Lets users be aware that you’re not being paid for writing the article.
- Affiliate Links – Discloses to users that you may receive compensation if they buy through one of your affiliate links.
- Sample/Review Copy – Lets site users be aware that you have received a review or sample copy of the product.
- Sponsored Post – Informs your readers that you were compensated in some way to write the article.
- Third Party Advertising – Informs your 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 Website
Ideally, you should have your lawyer prepare the verbiage of your legal documents. Once you have this completed, there are several ways to include them in your website.
Upload Legal Web Pages Manually
If someone prepares and delivers the legal verbiage for you in typical web page formatting (e.g. HTML), you can simply upload these to your site, or have someone upload them for you.
We recommend creating a legal directory on your server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this folder (e.g. via FTP) …
(Upload legal pages to your server via FTP)
You can then add links to these pages from your WordPress site using a custom WordPress menu …
(WordPress Menu)
Where To Display Legal Web Pages On Your Website
Make sure that your legal pages are fully up-to-date and clearly accessible to all site visitors. You can add links to your legal pages to your sidebar menu (or the footer section of your website) so that users will be able to access legal information from all your site’s pages …
(Display links to your legal information on all of your website’s pages)
To learn more about displaying links to pages on your sidebar, see this tutorial:
Legal Templates
You can easily find downloadable attorney-drafted internet forms and agreements just by searching online, or by visiting websites like the ones shown below:
Find Legal Forms
(FindLegalForms.com – Attorney-prepared legal forms)
For more information, go here:
Another option is to download a set of cut & paste legal templates designed by legal attorney Scott Talbert …
Cut And Paste Website Legal Pages
(Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages)
Cut & Paste website legal templates were written by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be customized with simple search and replace to insert your own business name and URL, 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
- DMCA Compliance
- Federal Trade Commission Compliance (This proprietary FTC page accommodates Federal Trade Commission regulations that came into effect on March 2012)
- Privacy Policy: Google, DART, etc.
- 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 website, then paste the content from the templates into your pages and publish or upload the pages to your server as described previously.
More info:
WordPress Legal Plugins
As well as using legal templates, you can simplify things using a plugin.
Here are some legal plugins for WordPress websites and blogs worth looking into:
WordPress Legal Pages
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress)
If manually setting up legal pages for your site feels too time-consuming for you, then consider using WP Legal Pages …
This plugin is not free, but it’s a very low-priced and well-supported plugin that will make the task of creating and implementing legal pages on your website much easier and save you loads of headaches.
Here are just some of the reasons to consider using WP Legal Pages plugin:
- Pre-written Legal Templates – Over 20 built-in legal templates created by professional lawyers.
- Quick And Easy To Use – You can set up most of your basic legal pages in a few minutes with just a few mouse clicks.
- Customizable Pages – The plugin includes customizable and editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms of Use, Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy Policy and more!)
- Easy To Edit Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit legal pages just like any other WP page.
- Custom Shortcodes Integration – Add shortcodes to your 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 WordPress page.
- Forced Options – Force page or post lockdown. When users agree to your terms, the page unlocks.
- New Features – More features are being added to this plugin with every new version.
After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a new menu feature will appear in your main WP dashboard section …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Menu)
This lets you create, view and edit your legal pages from your admin area …
(WordPress Legal Pages – Settings Area)
The plugin gives you the option to create legal pages for different types of websites, such as business websites, niche websites, e-commerce sites, etc …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Create different legal page types)
Select from a number of pre-configured legal templates …
(WordPress Legal Pages – 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 this great plugin:
Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Website Compliance Plugin
complete website compliance & disclaimer solution …
For more details go here:
Legal Suite Pro
(Legal Suite Pro Plugin 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 of Service
- 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 have packaged high quality, professionally written legal disclaimers 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 plugin licensing is flexible, allowing you to install and use this plugin on all of your sites (even sites that you decide to sell).
Go here for more information:
If hiring legal experts to create your legal documentation is out of your budget, then consider implementing at least some basic kind of legal protection on your site until you can afford to hire a lawyer.
We want your site to be legally safe!
Download the FREE Legal Pages Generator software below, or choose one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal page templates, or plugins as described in the section below.
(Legal Pages Generator Software)
Legal Pages Generator Software quickly generates necessary legal documents for your website including Terms of Service, Privacy Statement, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and Earnings Disclaimer.
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As we’ve previously pointed out, if you make money online (or plan to), you need to make sure that your site is found to comply with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate online business practices and any terms of service and guidelines required by 3rd-party products and services that you may be promoting or selling online. Your digital presence must comply with numerous laws and regulatory guidelines, many 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?
Legal Disclaimer: Once again, we are not lawyers and we do not provide legal advice. You must do your own due diligence and consult legal experts about the best way to ensure that your website fully complies with the law concerning your specific business.
Resources
Below is a useful list of additional sites we recommend you visit to help you better understand what your business requires to remain compliant and meet legal requirements and guidelines:
- FTC 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 – BBB
- 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
- US Copyright Office
Plus …
- Analytics Help – Policy requirements for Google Analytics Advertising Features
- Google AdSense Program Policies Explained
- Google 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 why it’s important to have a legally compliant website. Use the information above to quickly add legal pages to your WordPress website or blog using simple methods, resources and plugins.
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