Category: Management Plugins

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

Internet laws are designed to protect the rights of consumers and apply to any person who sells, markets or promotes goods and services online. Anyone who owns a website risks being sued for not following compliance laws. Feigning ignorance about the law won’t prevent someone from taking legal action against your business.

New laws introduced in 2014 to regulate how businesses promote advertising on their sites state that if you promote anything on your site for material gain, then you need to follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by consumer protection departments, 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 – Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program)

These laws affect various business categories, including:

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

If your site does not display certain pages to visitors (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy policy, legal disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank won’t allow you to list digital products, PayPal could close down your account, Facebook will reject web applications, and you will not be allowed to promote a number of advertising and online marketing networks.

You may also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to legal action.

The purpose of this article is to make you aware that your website(s) are required to comply with legal requirements in accordance with the laws that govern business practices online, the importance of being compliant with the terms of service of external providers whose products or services you may be recommending on your website, and that there are plugin-based solutions for WordPress users that can help your online properties become fully compliant, such as the plugins listed further below.

Is Your Site Compliant?

Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we do not offer legal advice in this article. As previously stated, the aim of this article is to make you aware that your website may be subject to a number of legal requirements in accordance with the laws that govern online business practices and that compliance may be required with the terms of service of third-party providers whose products or services you promote on your website or blog

The Importance Of Making Your Website Compliant

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

• Someone has a heart attack after using your online fitness workout.
• The skin care lotion you promote as an affiliate marketer gives someone allergic reactions.
• Your opt-in list provides a statement informing subscribers that you won’t sell their information, but you haven’t clearly spelled out what you will do with their details.
• Someone steals your content and publishes it on their website.
• There is no statement on your website telling your site visitors that you are marketing a product as an affiliate that you could receive a sales commission if visitors purchase through your link.
• You have not spelled out the terms and conditions of your refund/return policies.
• Visitors claim the testimonials on your site are fake and try to sue you.
• You did not disclose that you were given a free copy of the product in your review.
• Your website includes adult-related content and you did not take appropriate measures to restrict access by underaged children.

Consider too these actual case studies of costly compliance breaches:

• A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling visitors they would be required to give up their personal information to complete a debt reduction offer. Cost = $390,000.
• A social networking app developer copped a massive $800,000 fine for collecting personal information without users’ knowledge and consent – including storing private information about children.
• Facebook’s Terms Of Service does not allow users to scrape UIDs. Many marketers gambled that they could get away with it and lost. Their accounts were shut down, resulting thousands of $$$ in lost revenue.
• An independently-conducted study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred randomly-chosen websites, more than 90% had broken at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% had breached at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were breaking 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 with warnings 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 easy it is to risk being exposed to litigation through non-compliance?

Regardless of whether you are a:

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

It’s imperative to do whatever is necessary to make sure that your digital presence complies with all laws and regulations governing the use of your site, wherever you are located.

Complying With Third-Party Companies - ToS, Policies, etc.

Complying with third-party services terms and policies is important.

You are required to let your visitors know that your business complies with all necessary legal requirements and professional guidelines. This not only improves trust and buyer confidence in your business, it’s also a requirement of most companies you engage with.

For example:

Google requires websites to display legal information when using their products or features. This includes using Google Analytics …

(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)

Making money online with your WordPress sites with Google AdSense display advertising …

(Google AdSense advertising policy requirements)

Or promoting your products or services via Google AdWords …

(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)

If you plan to sell information products with merchants such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established merchant sites, you will need to add certain legal pages to your website before they will approve your products for sale …

(Policy requirements product vendors using ClickBank)

The Federal Trade Commission also requires you to display clear disclaimers and policies on your site, especially if you plan to use testimonials or product endorsements …

(FTC – consumer policies and regulations)

FTC Regulations – Ensuring That Your Website Is Compliant

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 documented on their website, this often results in the FTC making an example of businesses and prosecuting site owners for breaches of regulation in an effort to get other businesses to comply.

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

A number of online business resources provide guidelines and examples on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your site comply with FTC requirements. We provide additional references at the end of this article …

(Structure your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of the law)

Social Media Applications Also Have Compliance Requirements

If you are planning to develop social networking applications that integrate with your site, you will also be required to provide social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and many others with information about various legal pages …

(Facebook apps also require compliance)

• If you are unsure whether you may be breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of service providers like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
• If you plan to promote products or services online as an affiliate marketer, or generate revenue online with Google AdSense, eBay or Amazon ads, or use Google AdWords pay-per-click ads to drive visitors to your pages, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you need to display on your site to comply with all Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts shut down.
• 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 protect yourself and your business.

(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 you suspect that your web site is lacking in terms of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.

At its most basic, adding the following compliance pages to your site will keep you out of trouble with many consumer protection authorities and 3rd-party service providers, and avoid possible legal issues or even threats of legal action (e.g. “takedown” notices):

• About Us Page
• Contact Page
• Privacy Statement
• Terms Of Use
• Disclaimers
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance

In addition to the pages above, you may want to look into implementing any of the following pages where applicable:

• Affiliate Agreement (e.g. if you sell products or services through an affiliate program)
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Health Disclaimers (e.g. if your website or blog provides health or medical advice)
• Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
• Media Terms Of Use (e.g. if you allow users to download videos or audio files on your site)

Disclosure Pages – Types

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

• No Material Connection – Informs readers that you’re not being paid for writing the post.
• Affiliate Links – Discloses to visitors that you will receive compensation if they purchase through your affiliate link.
• Review/Sample Copy – Lets your readers be aware that you have been given a sample or review copy of the product by the author or product developer.
• Sponsored Post – Disclosure that lets your readers know that you were compensated in some way to write the content.
• Third Party Advertising – Informs users 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 verbiage of your legal documents. Once these have been created, there are several ways to add them to your website.

Uploading Legal Web Pages To Your Website

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

We recommend creating a legal folder on your web server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this directory (e.g. using FTP) …

(Upload legal pages to your web server using FTP)

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

(Custom WordPress Menu Feature)

Displaying Legal Pages On Your Site

After uploading your legal pages, make sure that these are kept up-to-date and clearly accessible to all site visitors. You can add these to your WordPress sidebar (or place them in the footer section of your website or blog) to ensure that users will be able to access the information from every web page …

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

We have created a detailed tutorial on displaying links to pages on your WP sidebar using widgets here:

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Templates

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

Find Legal Forms

(Find Legal Forms)

Visit this site to learn more:

• FindLegalForms.com

Another option is to download a package of website legal templates designed by legal attorney Scott Talbert to protect businesses online …

Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

(Cut And Paste Website Legal Pages)

These templates feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be easily customized with a quick search and replace to insert your own business details, then pasted into your pages.

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

• Anti-Spam Policy
• Copyright Notice
• Disclaimer: multi-discipline professional disclaimers
• DMCA Compliance
• Federal Trade Commission Compliance (This proprietary FTC page accommodates new Federal Trade Commission guidelines brought into effect in 2012)
• Privacy Policy: Google, etc.
• Terms of Service (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 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 your legal pages to your web server as previously described.

For more details, go here:

• Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages – Website Legal Pages

Legal Page Plugins

In addition to using legal templates, you can simplify things by using plugins.

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

WordPress Legal Pages

(WordPress Plugin – WP Legal Pages)

If you don’t want to spend time creating legal pages manually, then consider choosing a plugin like WordPress Legal Pages instead …

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

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

• Pre-written Legal Templates – Includes over 20 built-in legal templates created by a team of professional lawyers.
• Quick And Easy To Use – Set up most of the basic legal pages you will need in a few minutes with a few clicks of the mouse.
• Fully Customizable Pages – The plugin includes fully customizable and completely editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms of Use, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
• Editable Pages – Content editor lets you edit all legal pages just like any WP page.
• Custom Shortcodes – You can add shortcodes to any of your WordPress pages and the information is then 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 WordPress page.
• Forced Options – Force page lockdown. When a user agrees to the terms, the page unlocks, giving them access.
• Additional Features – More features are being added to this plugin with every new version.

When you install WordPress Legal Pages, a menu item is added to your WP dashboard section …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Menu)

This lets you view, create and edit legal pages from the admin area …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Settings Screen)

The plugin gives you the option of creating legal pages for different online uses, such as business websites, affiliate sites, medical sites, etc …

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Type of Site menu)

Choose from several pre-written legal templates …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – 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

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

• WordPress Legal Pages Plugin

Compliance Bar – WP Website Compliance Plugin

Compliance Bar is a simple plugin for WordPress users that includes over twenty customizable compliance page templates for your digital presence …

More info:

• Compliance Bar – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance

Legal Suite Pro

(Legal Suite Pro)

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 Use
• 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 have packaged high quality, professionally written legal disclaimers 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 the plugin on all of your websites.

More info:

• Legal Suite Pro Plugin

If using the services of lawyers to create your legal pages is currently out of your budget, consider implementing at least some kind of basic legal protection on your site until you can afford professional assistance from a solicitor.

We want your site to be legally protected!

Download the Legal Pages Generator tool below (for FREE!), or consider choosing one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using legal documents, or a WordPress plugin - see section below.

(Legal Pages Generator)

Legal Pages Generator allows you to easily 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, it’s important that your site stays compliant with regulatory agencies and any guidelines and terms of service of third-party sites that you may decide to promote or recommend online. Your website or blog must comply with a wide range of regulations, some of which you may not even be aware of.

Non-compliance 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 offer no legal advice here. You are strongly advised to do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way to ensure that your website fully complies with all legal requirements regarding your specific business.

Additional Information

Here is a useful list of websites we recommend you visit to help you better understand what your business requires to comply and meet legal requirements and guidelines:

• Federal Trade Commission Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
• Federal Trade Commission Advertising & Marketing Rules Of the Road
• FTC Advertising And Marketing On The Internet
• BBB – 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

And …

• 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
• 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 provided above to quickly and easily add all necessary legal pages to your WordPress site using simple and inexpensive resources and solutions.

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