Is your WordPress website legally compliant? Do you know if you are breaking the law, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any 3rd-party companies whose products or services you are endorsing or selling?
Online laws are designed to protect the rights of consumers and apply to anyone who markets, sells or promotes products or 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.
New laws introduced in 2014 that regulate how businesses promote advertising on their sites state that if you plan to promote anything on your site for profit, then you must follow certain principles of disclosure to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory agencies, such as the US-based Better Business Bureau, also called the BBB. Search online “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet to learn more.
(Better Business Bureau)
These laws affect several online business activities, including:
- Any form of advertising, like pay-per-click advertising
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Product Creators
- Bloggers
- etc.
Without legal pages on your website (e.g. terms of service, privacy policy, financial disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, online merchants like ClickBank won’t approve your digital products for sale, PayPal could suspend your account and freeze your funds, Facebook could suspend your applications, and you will not be allowed into most advertising and affiliate marketing networks.
More importantly, you could also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to legal action.
This guide explains the importance of having a compliant website and lists simple solutions that will help make your site legally compliant in minutes.
Does Your Website Or Blog Comply With All Legal Requirements?
Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we do not provide legal advice on this website. As previously stated, the aim of this article is only to 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 online and that you may be required to comply with the terms of service of 3rd-party providers whose products or services you use on your website or blog
Why Making Your Website Compliant Is Important
Is your business at risk? Consider for a minute what the implications to your business would be if any of these scenarios were to happen:
- A person suffers a cardiac arrest after using your online fitness program.
- The skin care creams you promote as an affiliate gives people an allergic reaction.
- Your opt-in list provides a statement that lets subscribers know that you will not sell their information, but you have not clearly informed them what you will do with the details you’ve collected.
- Someone steals your content and publishes it on their own site.
- There is no statement on your site making your visitors aware that you’re an affiliate for the product you are selling that you may earn an affiliate commission if visitors buy it.
- You didn’t spell out the conditions of your return policies.
- Visitors claim your testimonials are misleading and try to sue you as a result.
- You did not disclose that you received a free copy of the product in your review.
- Your website includes adult-related information and you did not take appropriate measures to keep underaged persons from accessing it.
Consider too the real examples of costly compliance breaches below:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would be required to give up personal information to complete his offer. Cost = $390,000.
- A social networking app developer received a massive $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% had infringed at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% were in breach of at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were in violation 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 entirely to the Google program they had violated, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).
Can you see how easy it is to risk becoming a target of litigation?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- CPA Marketer
- Multilevel Marketer
- Affiliate Product Marketer
- AdSense Publisher
- Product Marketer
- Amazon Affiliate
- EBay Seller
- Publisher Of Adult Content
- Freelancer, Coach or Consultant
- Online Seller Of Any Service Or Product
it’s important to ensure that your website or blog complies with all laws and regulations governing the use of your site, wherever you are located.
Compliance With Third-Party Services
Complying with 3rd-party services terms and policies is important.
You are required to let your site users know that your website complies will all legal requirements and recommended guidelines. This not only increases consumer trust and buyer confidence in your site, it’s also a requirement of most companies you will interact with online.
For example:
Google requires your site to display legal information when using many of their services. This includes Google Analytics …
(Policy requirements for using Google Analytics)
Earning revenue with your online properties using Google AdSense …
(Google AdSense - policy requirements)
Or promoting your services via Google AdWords …
(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)
If you plan to sell digital products with merchants like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant sites, you will need to add certain legal pages to your site before your products are approved for selling via their networks …
(Policy requirements for ClickBank digital product vendors)
The Federal Trade Commission also requires that you display clear disclaimers and policy statements to visitors, especially when concerning the use of testimonials or product endorsements …
(Federal Trade Commission – consumer guidelines and regulations)
FTC Regulations Require Your Website To Be Compliant
FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online reveals that many business are still unaware (or choose to flaunt) these requirements. As has already been the case, this typically prompts the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute website owners 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 does not operate in the U.S. it’s best to protect your business interests by making sure that your site complies with FTC regulations.
There are many resources online that can provide guidelines and examples on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your site comply with FTC requirements. We provide a number of references and links to useful resources at the end of this article …
(Word your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of the law)
Don’t Forget Social Media Applications
If you are planning to develop applications for your website users, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and others require you to provide information about your legal pages …
(Apps that interface with social networks also require compliance)
- If you are unsure whether or not you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of sites like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
- If you plan to promote services or products on your site via affiliate marketing, or generating revenue with Google AdSense, ads for Amazon or eBay products, or driving visitors to your website using 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 - don’t risk having your accounts shut down.
- If you have been wondering if “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, then it’s best to take proper precautions to protect yourself and your website.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all 3rd-party websites require you to comply with their terms of use)
What Legal Information Do I Need To Add To My Site To Be Covered Against Legal Compliance Issues?
If you suspect that your website or blog is lacking in terms of compliance, then this section will help you.
At its most basic, adding the following compliance pages to your website will help you keep out of trouble with most regulatory agencies and external providers, and even help to avoid potential legal issues or even threats of legal action (e.g. “takedown” notices):
- About Us Page
- Contact Page
- Privacy Statement
- Terms & Conditions
- Disclaimer Pages
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
Additionally, you may want to consider including any of the following pages:
- Affiliate Disclosure (e.g. if you sell or promote affiliate products and services)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Earnings Disclaimer
- External Linking Policy
- Financial Disclaimers (e.g. if your website or blog provides general content about financial areas or income opportunities)
- Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
- Use Of Media (e.g. if you allow users to download media on your site)
Types Of Disclosure Pages
Adding the right type of disclosure to your website is important. For example:
- No Material Connection – This lets users know that you’re not being paid for writing the article.
- Affiliate Links – Disclosure that informs site users that you may be compensated if they act on your recommendation and purchase through an affiliate link.
- Sample/Review Copy – Disclosure that informs users that you have received a review or sample copy of the product you’re reviewing or writing about by the author or product developer.
- Sponsored Post – Lets your readers know that you have been compensated in some way to write the post.
- Third Party Advertising – Informs readers 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 WordPress Website
Ideally, you will have a lawyer prepare the content of your legal documents. Once this has been completed, there are several ways to include them in your website.
Uploading Legal Web Pages Manually To Your Website
If someone prepares and delivers the legal verbiage for you in HTML format, you can simply upload these to your server, or have someone upload these pages for you.
We recommend creating a legal folder in your server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this folder via FTP …
(Create a ‘legals’ folder in your web server and upload pages using FTP)
You can then easily add links to your legal pages from your WordPress site using custom links in your menu administration …
(Custom WordPress Menu Feature)
After uploading your legal pages, make sure that these are up-to-date and clearly accessible to visitors. You can add links to your legal pages to the sidebar menu (or place them in the footer section of your site) so that visitors have access to the information from every web page …
(It’s important to display legal information to visitors on all of your site’s pages)
We have created a detailed tutorial about displaying links to pages on your sidebar menu using widgets here:
Legal Templates
You can find downloadable attorney-prepared website forms and agreements just by searching online, or visiting sites like the ones listed below:
Find Legal Forms
More information:
Another option is to download a package of legal templates designed by attorney Scott Talbert …
Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages
(Website Legal Pages)
Cut & Paste website templates were written by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be easily customized with search and replace to add your own details, then pasted into your web pages.
The legal forms included in Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Form Templates include:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- Disclaimer
- DMCA Compliance
- FTC Compliance
- Privacy Policy
- ToS & Conditions of Use.
You can either create a new page for every legal form you want to add to your site, then paste the content from the templates into your pages and publish or upload your legal pages to your server as previously described.
Go here to learn more:
Legal Page Plugins
In addition to using cut & paste legal templates, another option is to use plugins.
Here are some great legal WordPress plugins you should check out:
WP Legal Pages
(WordPress Plugin – WordPress Legal Pages)
If you don’t want to spend time creating legal web pages manually, then consider choosing a plugin like WP Legal Pages …
WordPress Legal Pages is not a free plugin, but it’s an affordable and well-supported premium WordPress plugin that will help make the task of creating and implementing legal pages on your site a lot easier and save you a great deal of time.
Here are just some of the benefits of using the WP Legal Pages:
- Built-in 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 a few minutes with just a few clicks of the mouse.
- Fully Customizable Pages – Includes fully customizable and completely editable legal form templates (e.g. ToS, Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy Policy and more!)
- Easy To Edit Pages – WordPress content editor lets you edit legal pages like every other page on your site.
- Custom Shortcodes – You can add shortcodes to your pages and the information will then be automatically inserted into your pages when published.
- Exclude pages. The plugin lets you exclude pages from menus with a simple check box and delete and manage these like any page on your site.
- Forced Options – Force page or post lock down. Page unlocks only when users agree to your terms.
- Additional Features – The plugin is updated with new features when new versions are released.
When you install WordPress Legal Pages, a menu feature is added to your main navigation menu …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Menu)
This lets you create, edit and view legal pages from your admin area …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Settings)
The plugin gives you the option of creating legal pages for different types of websites, such as business websites with products, affiliate/review sites, AdSense sites, etc …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Page type menu)
Select from a number of pre-configured legal templates …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Built-In 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 this plugin, go here:
Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance
complete website compliance & disclaimer solution …
More info:
Legal Suite Pro Plugin
(Legal Suite Pro For WordPress)
Legal Suite Pro 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 Service
- Earnings Disclaimer
(Legal Suite Pro Plugin – 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. 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 or flip).
More information:
If using the services of legal experts to create your legal documentation is out of your budget, consider implementing at least some basic kind of legal protection on your website until you can afford professional assistance.
We want your business to be protected!
Download the Legal Pages Generator tool below (it’s FREE!), or consider choosing one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal forms, or a legal pages plugin as described in the section below.
(Legal Pages Generator Software)
Legal Pages Generator Software quickly generates basic legal documents for your website including Terms of Service, Privacy Statement, 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 business online (or are planning to), you need to ensure that your website is compliant with regulatory agencies and the guidelines and terms of service (TOS) required by 3rd-party services and products that you may be promoting or endorsing online. If your website doesn’t comply with laws designed to protect consumers, you’re breaking the law.
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 are not offering legal advice here. You are strongly advised to do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert to ensure that your website is compliant with the law wherever your business is based.
References And Legal Resources
Below is a useful list of sites we suggest you visit to better understand what may be required of your site to remain compliant and meet its legal obligations:
- FTC 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
- US Patent and Trademark Office
- US Copyright Office
Additionally …
- Google 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
- Google 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 compliant website. Use the information presented above to quickly and easily add legal pages to your site.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group