Tag: Legal Pages

Is your website compliant? Do you know if your site is breaking any laws, or breaching the Terms of Service (TOS) of any 3rd-party companies whose services or products you do business with?

Internet laws are designed to protect the rights of 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 the law will not protect you from being slapped with a legal notice.

New laws introduced in 2014 that regulate how businesses promote advertising on their websites state that if you plan to promote anything on your site for profit, you will need to follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory departments, such as the (US based) BBB, or Better Business Bureau. Search online “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet to learn more.

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

The new laws has consequences for several online business activities, including:

• Any form of advertising, including Google AdWords or AdSense
• Retarget Marketing
• Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
• Affiliate Marketers
• Product Creators
• Blogging
• etc.

If there are no legal pages on your site (e.g. terms of service, privacy statement, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank or JVZoo will not allow you to list your digital products for sale, PayPal could shut down your account and freeze your funds, Facebook could disapprove your web applications, and you will not be allowed into various advertising and affiliate marketing networks.

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

In this guide, we look at the importance of having a compliant website and list simple and cost-effective methods and solutions that will help make your website or blog legally compliant quickly and easily.

Is Your Site Breaking Rules Or Regulations?

Legal Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we do not provide legal advice in this article. As stated previously, the purpose of this article is to help make you aware that your website may be subject to a number of legal policies in accordance with the laws governing business and that you may be required to comply with the terms of service of companies whose services or products you endorse on your website

Why Having A Compliant Website Is Important

Are you at risk? Consider for a moment what the implications to your business would be if any of these scenarios were to take place:

• Someone has a cardiac arrest after using your online fitness program.
• The skin cream you promote as an affiliate gives people allergic reactions.
• You’ve informed your subscribers that you will not sell their information, but you haven’t clearly informed them what you plan to do with their details.
• Someone copies content from your website and publishes it on their own site.
• There is no statement on your site telling your visitors that you are an affiliate for the product you’re promoting that you could earn a financial benefit if visitors buy through your link.
• You didn’t spell out the terms of your refund/return policies.
• A visitor claims that your testimonials are misleading and decides to sue you.
• You didn’t disclose in a product review that you received a free copy of the product.
• Your website contains adult-related information and you didn’t take appropriate measures to keep underage persons from accessing it.

Consider also the following actual case studies of costly compliance breaches:

• A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling visitors they would have to give up personal information to complete his offer. Cost = $390,000.
• A social networking app developer received a whopping $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 does not allow users to scrape Users IDs. Many marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them thousands of $$$ 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% were breaking at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% were breaking at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were in breach 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 notices or lose access entirely to the Google program whose policies with the infringement, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).

Can you see how easy it is to risk becoming exposed to litigation through non-compliance?

Regardless of whether you are a:

• CPA (Cost Per Action) or CPC (Cost Per Conversion) Marketer
• Network Marketer
• Affiliate Promoter
• AdWords User
• Niche Publisher
• Amazon Associate
• e-Commerce Store Owner
• Publisher Of Adult Content
• Freelancer, Coach or Consultant
• Seller Of Any Product Or Service Online

it’s important to do whatever is necessary to make sure that your website has the right legal pages and clearly displayed to site visitors.

Complying With 3rd-Party Services - ToS, Policies, etc.

Big companies and government agencies that regulate trade emphasize the importance of observing the terms and policies of 3rd-party service providers.

You must let your site visitors know that your website complies will all legal requirements and recommended guidelines. This not only increases trust and buyer confidence in your site, it’s also a requirement of many companies you will engage with online.

For example:

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

(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)

Monetizing your online properties with Google AdSense online advertising …

(Google AdSense - policy requirements)

And even promoting your services or products through Google AdWords …

(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)

If you plan to sell products online through merchants like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant sites, you will need to add various legal pages to your website before your products are approved for sale …

(Policy requirements for selling through ClickBank)

The Federal Trade Commission also requires that you display clear disclaimers and policies to visitors, especially when concerning the use of product testimonials or endorsements …

(Federal Trade Commission – consumer guidelines and regulations)

FTC Regulations Require Your Website To Comply

FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online reveals that many sites are unaware (or choose to ignore) these requirements. As documented on their website, this will most likely prompt the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute companies in an effort to get other businesses to comply.

If you do any kind of business online, therefore, it’s best not to take chances. Even if your business does not operate in the U.S. we strongly recommend protecting your business by ensuring that your site complies with FTC guidelines and regulations.

You can find many business resource sites that can provide guidelines and examples on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your business comply with FTC requirements. See the references and resources section at the end of this article for more information …

(It’s important to structure your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of laws and regulations)

Social Media Applications Also Require Compliance

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

(Facebook developer app – policy requirements)

• If you are not sure whether or not you may be breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of companies like Google, Facebook, etc., it’s best to assume that you most probably are.
• If you are considering promoting products or services online as an affiliate marketer, or make money online with Google AdSense, ads for eBay or Amazon products, or using Google AdWords pay-per-click ads to drive visitors to your pages, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you are required to include on your site to comply with all Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts shut down.
• If you’ve been wondering whether “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, take proper precautions to protect yourself and your business.

(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, most 3rd-party services require you to comply with their terms of use and policies)

What Compliance Information Do I Need To Add To My Site To Be Protected From Legal Compliance Issues?

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

At its most basic, adding the following compliance pages to your website should keep your business out of trouble with many consumer protection agencies and 3rd-party providers, and avoid possible legal issues):

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

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

• Affiliate Disclosure (e.g. if you sell or promote affiliate products or services)
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Financial Disclaimers (if your website or blog provides information about financial areas or income opportunities)
• Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
• Media Terms (if you allow users to download videos or audio files on your site)

Disclosure Pages – Types

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

• No Material Connection – This lets your visitors be aware that you’re not being paid for writing the article.
• Affiliate Links – Lets site users know that you will receive compensation if they act on your recommendation and buy through affiliate links on your site.
• Review Or Sample Copy – Discloses to visitors that you have received a review or sample copy of the product or service you’re reviewing or writing about by the author or developer.
• Sponsored Post – Discloses to users that you were compensated in some way to write the content.
• Third Party Advertising – Lets readers know that you’re using online behavioral tracking technology. This is required to comply with the “enhanced notice” the Better Business Bureau has been requiring online 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 content of your legal documents. Once these have been done, 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 server, or have someone upload these pages for you.

We recommend adding a legal directory to your web server and uploading your legal pages to this directory using FTP …

(Upload legal pages to your web server via FTP)

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

(Custom WordPress Menu)

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

(Display links to legal pages on all of your website’s pages)

We have created a detailed tutorial about adding links to pages on your sidebar or footer using widgets here:

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

Legal Templates

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

Find Legal Forms

(FindLegalForms.com)

Go here for more information:

• Find Legal Forms – Attorney-drafted legal forms

Another option is to download a package of cut and paste website legal templates designed by attorney Scott Talbert …

Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

(Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages)

Cut & Paste website templates were created by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be easily customized with a simple quick search and replace to insert your own business name and URL, then pasted into your pages.

The legal forms included in Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Pages include:

• Anti-Spam Policy
• Copyright Notice
• Disclaimer
• DMCA Compliance
• Federal Trade Commission Compliance
• Privacy Policy
• ToS & Conditions of Use.

You can either create a new WordPress page for each legal form you want added to your site, then paste the content from the templates into your pages and publish or upload the pages to your server as described earlier.

Go here for more details:

• Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Page Templates

WordPress Legal Plugins

As well as using legal templates, another option is to use plugins.

Here are some great plugins for WordPress users you may be interested in checking out:

WordPress Legal Pages

(WordPress Plugin – WordPress Legal Pages)

If you don’t want to bother with creating legal web pages manually, then consider choosing WordPress Legal Pages instead …

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

Some of the benefits of using the WP Legal Pages are:

• Pre-written Templates – The plugin gives you access to over 20 built-in legal templates created by a team of professional lawyers.
• Very Quick And Easy To Use – You can set up most of your basic legal pages in a few minutes with just a few clicks of the mouse.
• Customizable Pages – Includes fully customizable and editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms of Use, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
• Easy To Edit Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit legal pages just like any page on your site.
• Shortcodes – Add shortcodes to your WordPress pages and the information is then automatically inserted into your content 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 page on your site.
• Forced Options – Force page lock down. When the user agrees to the 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 display inside your main navigation area …

(WordPress Legal Pages – Menu)

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

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Settings Screen)

The plugin gives you the option of creating legal pages for different types of websites, such as business websites, review websites, Amazon sites, etc …

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Create different legal page types)

Select from several pre-configured legal templates …

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – 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

For more information about using this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• WP Legal Pages

Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance

total website compliance & disclaimer solution …

More info:

• Compliance Bar – Website Compliance Plugin For WordPress

Legal Suite Pro Plugin

(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 Plugin 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 powered 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 sites.

Go here for more details:

• Legal Suite Pro

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

We want your business to be legally protected!

Download the Legal Pages Generator tool below (for FREE!), or choose one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using legal templates, or plugins - see section below.

(Legal Pages Generator Software)

Legal Pages Generator Software quickly generates essential 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 commercial activity online (or plan to), you need to ensure that your website complies with all legal requirements and the guidelines and terms of service (TOS) of 3rd-party sites that you may decide to promote or offer online. Your digital presence must comply with a number of regulations, some 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?

Disclaimer: Once again, we are not lawyers and we do not provide legal advice. We strongly advise you to do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert to ensure that your website fully complies with all legal requirements pertaining to your business.

References And Legal Resources

Here is a useful list of sites we suggest you visit to help you better understand what your business requires 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

See Also …

• 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

We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of having a legally compliant website. Use the information presented above to quickly add all necessary legal pages to your WordPress website or blog.

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