Is your website legally compliant? Do you know if you are breaking any laws, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any companies whose services or products you are advertising or endorsing?
As digital business continues growing at such a fast pace and rules keep changing, it’s vitally important to try and stay on top of what’s happening and ensure that your site remains compliant with all laws and regulations, especially if having an online presence is an important part of your overall business strategy.
Recent laws introduced in 2014 that regulate how businesses promote advertising on their sites state that if you promote anything on your website for commercial gain, you will need to follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory agencies, such as the Better Business Bureau, also called the BBB. Do a search online for “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet for more details.
(Better Business Bureau – Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program)
These laws affect various online business activities, including:
- Any type of advertising, including Google AdWords or AdSense
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Product Creation
- Bloggers
- etc.
If your website does not display certain pages (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy statement, earning disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites like 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, Facebook will reject web applications, and you won’t be allowed to enroll in a range of advertising and affiliate merchant networks.
If your online business is not in compliance, you could end up facing a number of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
In this article, we discuss why it’s important to have a legally compliant website and provide inexpensive methods and solutions that will make your website legally compliant in minutes.
Does Your Site Comply With The Law?
Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice on this website. As previously stated, this article is designed only to help make you aware that your website may be subject to a number of legal policies in accordance with the laws that govern business online and that you may be required to comply with the terms of service of 3rd-party companies whose services or products you use on your website
Understanding The Importance Of Making Your Website Compliant
Consider for one moment what the implications to your business would be in the following scenarios:
- A customer suffers a heart attack after using your online fitness workout.
- The skin cream you sell as an affiliate gives someone who purchases from your link skin rashes.
- You’ve told your subscribers that you won’t sell their information, but you haven’t described exactly what you will do with their personal details.
- Someone copies content from your site and puts it up on their own site.
- There is no statement on your site telling visitors that you are promoting a product as an affiliate that you may receive an affiliate commission if visitors buy via your affiliate link.
- You haven’t spelled out the conditions of your refund policies.
- A visitor claims the testimonials on your site are false and decides to sue you.
- You didn’t disclose in a product review that you were given a free copy of the product.
- Your site contains adult-related content and you did not take sufficient measures to restrict access by underaged persons.
Consider too the following documented examples of costly compliance breaches:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would have to give up their personal information (including credit card info to complete a debt reduction offer. In addition to a significant $390,000 fine, they’re now required to give everyone he does business with for the next 20 years, a copy of the judgement — including employees.
- 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 Users IDs. Many internet marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them thousands of $$$ 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 in violation of 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 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 with warnings or lose access entirely to the Google program whose policies they had violated, 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, CPC or PPA Marketer
- Network Marketer
- Affiliate Product Marketer
- AdSense Publisher
- Niche Marketer
- Amazon Associate
- EBay Seller
- Adult Content Publisher
- Provider Of Freelance, Consulting Or Coaching Services
- Online Seller Of Any Product Or Service
it’s important to ensure that your digital presence is legally compliant.
Complying With Third-Party Companies Terms And Policies
Complying with 3rd-party companies terms and policies is important.
You are expected to let your visitors know that your website complies will all laws and professional guidelines. This not only increases trust and confidence in your business, it’s also required in many cases by most companies you do business with.
For example:
Google requires websites to display certain information if using many of their products or features. This includes using services such as Google Analytics …
(Policy requirements for using Google Analytics)
Earning revenue with your WordPress blog using Google AdSense advertising …
(Google AdSense advertising policy requirements)
And even promoting your site via Google AdWords …
(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)
If you plan to sell digital products via companies such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established merchant sites, you will need to add legal pages before your products can be approved for sale in their marketplace …
(Policy requirements for vendors using ClickBank)
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) also requires you to include clear disclaimers and statements to visitors, especially when using testimonials or product endorsements …
(FTC – consumer policies 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 will reveal that many business are unaware (or choose to flaunt) these requirements. As documented on their website, this will most likely prompt the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute companies for breaches of regulation in an effort to get other businesses to comply.
If you do any type of selling 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 regulations.
Various resources online provide guidelines on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your business comply with FTC requirements. See the additional references and resources section at the end of this article for more information …
(Word your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of the law)
Social Media Apps - Don’t Forget These
If you plan to create apps for your website users, you will also be required to provide social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and many others with access to various legal pages …
(Social networking apps also require compliance)
- If you are unsure whether or not you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of organizations like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
- If you are considering promoting services or products online as an affiliate marketer, or generating revenue online with Google AdSense, Amazon, or eBay advertising, or driving visitors to your site using Google AdWords, 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 - don’t risk having your accounts shut down.
- 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 avoid becoming a magnet for litigation.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, most third-party services require you to comply with their terms of use and policies)
Essential Legal Pages You Should Add To Your Site
If you suspect that your website or blog falls short in aspects of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.
At its most basic, adding the following compliance pages to your site will help you keep out of trouble with most regulatory authorities and 3rd-party service providers, and avoid potential legal issues):
- About Us Page
- Contact Page
- Privacy Statement
- Terms & Conditions
- Website Disclaimers
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
As well as the above, you may want to look into including one or more of these pages if applicable:
- Affiliate Disclosure (e.g. if you sell or promote affiliate products and services)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- External Links Policy
- Health Disclaimers (if your website provides general health or medical advice)
- Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
- Video/Audio Terms (e.g. if you allow users to download media on your site)
Disclosure Pages – Types
Adding correct disclosure information is important. For example:
- No Material Connection – Informs visitors that you are not being paid for writing the post.
- Affiliate Links – Lets your visitors know that you will be compensated if they buy through one of your affiliate links.
- Sample/Review Copy – Lets your readers know that you have been given a sample or review copy of the product or service by the author or developer.
- Sponsored Post – Informs site users that you were compensated in some form to write the content.
- 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 online publishers to show prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.
Adding Legal Pages To Your Site
Ideally, you should have your lawyer prepare the verbiage of your legal documents. Once this has been created, there are several ways to include them in your website.
Uploading Legal Web Pages Manually
If someone prepares and delivers the legal content for you in HTML format, you can simply upload these to your web server, or have someone upload them for you.
We recommend adding a legal directory to your web server and uploading your legal pages to this folder via FTP …
(Upload legal pages to your web server via FTP)
You can then add links to these legal pages from your WordPress site using custom links in your menu administration …
(WordPress Menu)
Make sure that your legal pages are kept up-to-date and clearly visible to your visitors. You can add these to the WordPress sidebar (or place them in the footer section of your site) to ensure that visitors have access to the information from all of your pages …
(It’s important to display links to your legal pages on all of your site’s pages)
We have created a detailed tutorial on adding links to pages on your sidebar here:
Store-Bought Legal Templates
You can easily find downloadable attorney-drafted disclosures and forms and agreements by searching online, or by visiting websites like this one:
Find Legal Forms
(Find Legal Forms)
More info:
Another option is to purchase a package of legal templates drafted by legal attorney Scott Talbert …
Cut And Paste Website Legal Pages
(Website Legal Pages)
These legal pages were created by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be customized with search and replace to add your own details, then pasted into your legal pages.
The legal forms included in Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Templates include:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- Disclaimer (multi-discipline professional disclaimers)
- DMCA Compliance
- Federal Trade Commission Compliance
- Privacy Policy: Google & DoubleClick 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 every 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 previously described.
To learn more, go here:
Legal Page Plugins
In addition to using copy & paste templates, another option for adding legal pages to your site is to use WordPress plugins.
Here are some plugins for WordPress users worth looking into:
WordPress Legal Pages
(WordPress Plugin – WP Legal Pages)
If the idea of manually setting up legal pages for your site seems too time-consuming for you, then consider using WP Legal Pages …
This plugin is not free, but it’s a reasonably low-priced and well-supported premium plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your website and save you time.
Some of the reasons to consider using WP Legal Pages plugin are:
- Built-in Templates – Over 20 built-in legal page templates created by a team of professional lawyers.
- Very Quick And Easy To Use – You can set up most of the legal pages you need in a few minutes with just a few mouse clicks.
- Customizable Pages – Includes customizable and editable legal form templates (e.g. ToS, Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy Policy and more!)
- Editable Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit all legal pages like any WordPress page.
- Custom Shortcodes Integration – You can add shortcodes to your WordPress pages and the information will be automatically inserted into your content when published.
- Exclude pages. The plugin lets you exclude pages from menus with a simple checkbox and delete and manage these like any WP page.
- Forced Options – Force page lock down. Page unlocks and can be accessed only when user agrees to your terms.
- New Features – The plugin is updated with new features when new versions are released.
After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a new menu item will appear in your main navigation section …
(WP Legal Pages – Menu)
This allows you to view, create and edit legal pages from the admin area …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Settings Area)
The plugin gives you the option to create legal pages for different online uses, such as business websites, affiliate websites, medical sites, etc …
(WP Legal Pages – Page type drop down menu)
Select from a number of built-in legal templates …
(WP Legal Pages – 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 plugin, go here:
Compliance Bar – WordPress Plugin For Website Compliance
Compliance Bar is a total compliance & disclaimer solution for your site …
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Legal Suite Pro Plugin
(Legal Suite Pro Plugin For WordPress)
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 And Conditions
- 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 license allows you to install and use this plugin on all of your websites (even sites that you decide to sell or flip).
More info:
If hiring lawyers to create your legal pages is out of your budget, then consider implementing at least some form of legal protection on your site until you can afford a solicitor.
We want your site to be safe!
Download the Legal Pages Generator software below (for FREE!), or choose one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal documentation, or plugins - see section below.
(Legal Pages Generator Software)
Legal Pages Generator lets you quickly generate necessary legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Policy, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and optional Earnings Disclaimer.
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As stated earlier, if you engage in any form of business online, you need to ensure that your site remains compliant with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate online business practices and any terms of service and guidelines of 3rd-party products and services that you may be promoting or endorsing online. If your website doesn’t comply with laws intended to protect consumers, you’re breaking the law.
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 provide no legal advice. We strongly advise you to do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way to ensure that your website fully complies with the law wherever your business is based.
Resources
Here is a useful list of additional sites we suggest you visit to help you better understand what your business requires to stay compliant and meet legal obligations:
- FTC Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
- FTC Advertising & Marketing Rules Of the Road
- FTC Advertising And Marketing On The Internet
- Better Business Bureau
- 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 …
- 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 why it’s important to have a compliant website. Use the information provided above to quickly add essential legal pages to your site using simple solutions.
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