Tag: Legal Pages

Is your WordPress site compliant? Do you know if your site is breaking the law, or breaching the Terms of Service (TOS) of any 3rd-party companies whose products or services you recommend or sell?

As the digital way of life continues to grow at an extraordinary rate and the rules of the game constantly change, it’s absolutely vital that you stay on top of what’s happening and ensure that your website remains compliant, especially if having an online presence is important in the success of your overall business strategy.

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

(Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program – BBB)

The introduction of these new laws has legal implications for several online business activities, including:

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

Without certain legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy policy, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, online merchants like ClickBank won’t allow you to sell digital products, PayPal could suspend your account and withhold payment of your funds, Facebook will suspend web applications, and you will not be allowed to promote a range of advertising or online merchant networks.

Additionally, you could also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to expensive litigation.

This article explains why it’s important to have a legally compliant website and how to quickly add legal pages to your WordPress website or blog using simple and inexpensive methods, resources and WordPress plugins.

Is Your Website Legally Compliant?

Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we do not provide legal advice on this website. As stated earlier, this article is designed only to make you aware that your website may be subject to a number of legal policies in accordance with the laws that govern your business and that you may be required to comply with the terms of service of third-party providers whose services or products you advertise on your website

Understanding The Importance Of Making Your Website Compliant

Consider what the implications to your business would be in the following scenarios:

• A person suffers a cardiac arrest after purchasing your online fitness workout.
• The skin care creams you sell as an affiliate marketer gives someone allergic reactions.
• You’ve let your subscribers know that you won’t sell their information, but you have not defined what you’ll do with their details.
• Someone copies your content and publishes it on their own site.
• There is no statement on your website making your site visitors aware that you are an affiliate for the product you’re endorsing and may derive financial benefits if they end up purchasing through your affiliate link.
• You did not spell out the terms of your refund/return policies.
• Visitors claim your testimonials are misleading and try to sue you.
• You have not disclosed that you have received a free copy in a product review.
• Your site includes adult-related content and you didn’t take appropriate measures to keep underaged children from accessing it.

Consider also the real examples of costly compliance breaches listed below:

• A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would be required to give up personal information to complete an offer they were promoting. Cost = $390,000.
• A social networking app developer was slapped with a whopping $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 internet marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, resulting thousands of $$$ in lost revenue.
• An independent 2010 study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred randomly-picked websites, more than 90% were in breach of at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% had broken at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were in breach 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 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 you could become exposed to the risks of litigation through non-compliance?

Regardless of whether you are a:

• CPA Marketer
• MLM Networker
• Affiliate Promoter
• AdSense Publisher
• Niche Publisher
• Amazon Associate
• EBay Seller
• Adult Content Publisher
• Freelancer, Coach or Consultant
• Seller Of Any Product Or Service Online

It’s vitally important to do whatever is necessary to make sure that your digital presence is legally compliant.

Complying With Third-Party Companies

Leading online companies and government agencies that regulate trade emphasize the need and importance of observing the terms and policies of third-party service providers.

You are required to let your visitors know that your website complies with all necessary laws and professional guidelines. This not only improves consumer trust and confidence in your site, it’s also a requirement of most companies you do business with online.

For example:

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

(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)

Monetizing your site with Google AdSense display advertising …

(Google AdSense advertising - policy requirements)

And even promoting your services or products via Google AdWords …

(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)

If you plan to sell information products using places like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant sites, you will be required to add various legal pages to your site before they will approve your products for sale …

(Policy requirements for selling digital products via ClickBank)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires you to include clear disclaimers and disclosures on your website, especially concerning the use of testimonials or product endorsements …

(Federal Trade Commission – consumer policies and regulations)

FTC Regulations – Ensure That Your Site Is Compliant

FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online will reveal that many websites are still unaware (or choose to ignore) these requirements. As has already been the case, this often prompts the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute site owners in an effort to get other businesses to comply.

If you plan to do any kind of money-making activity 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 interests by making sure that your site complies with all FTC regulations.

There are 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 additional resources section at the end of this article for more information …

(Structuring your disclaimers and disclosures correctly is important to avoid running foul of laws and regulations)

Social Media Apps Also Have Compliance Requirements

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

(Apps for social networks also require compliance)

• If you are not sure whether you may be breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of companies like Google, Facebook, etc., then assume that you most probably are.
• If you plan to promote services or products online via affiliate marketing, or generate revenue with Google AdSense, Amazon, or eBay advertising, or use Google AdWords to drive visitors to your pages, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you need to include on your site to comply with all Terms Of Service and policy requirements - don’t risk having your accounts terminated.
• If you’ve been wondering if “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, take proper precautions to avoid becoming a magnet for litigation.

(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 You Need To Add To Your Website To Be Insured Against Legal Compliance Issues?

If you suspect that your website or blog lacks in areas of compliance, then this section will help you.

Adding the following compliance pages to your site should help keep you out of trouble with many regulatory authorities and third-party providers, and even help you avoid possible legal issues):

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

As well as the above, you may want to look into implementing one or more of these pages if applicable:

• Affiliate Disclosure (if you promote or sell affiliate products or services)
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• External Links Policy
• Health Disclaimers (e.g. if your website or blog provides general health or medical information)
• Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
• Use Of Media (if you allow users to download videos or audio files on your site)

Disclosure Pages – Types

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

• No Material Connection – Informs your visitors that you will not receive any form of payment for writing the post.
• Affiliate Links – Informs visitors that you will be compensated if they act on your recommendation and buy through an affiliate link.
• Review Or Sample Copy – Lets visitors know that you have received a sample or review copy of the product or service by the author or product developer.
• Sponsored Post – Lets visitors know that you were compensated in some way to write the post.
• Third Party Advertising – Lets users know 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 Compliance Pages To Your WordPress Website

Ideally, you should consult lawyers and ask them to prepare the content of your legal documents. Once you have this prepared, there are several ways to include them in your website.

Upload Legal Web Pages To Your Website

If someone prepares and delivers the legal verbiage for you in HTML format, you can simply upload these to your site, or have someone upload them for you.

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

(Create a ‘legals’ folder on your web server and upload pages using FTP)

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

(WordPress Menu)

Make sure that your legal pages are kept up-to-date and display clearly to your visitors. You can add these to the WordPress sidebar (or the footer section of your site) to ensure that users can access legal information from all pages …

(It’s important to display links to your legal pages to users on all of your website’s pages)

We have written a detailed tutorial about adding links to pages on your WordPress sidebar or footer here:

• Adding And Configuring WordPress Widgets In The Sidebar Navigation Menu

Use Store-Bought Legal Templates

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

Find Legal Forms

(Find Legal Forms – Legal forms)

More info:

• FindLegalForms.com – Attorney-prepared legal forms

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

Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

(Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages – 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 search and replace to add your own business details, then pasted into your web pages.

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

• Anti-Spam Policy
• Copyright Notice
• Disclaimer
• DMCA Compliance
• FTC Compliance
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service & 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 website, then paste the content from the templates into your web pages and publish or upload your legal pages to your server as described earlier.

Visit this website to learn more:

• Website Legal Pages

WordPress Legal Page Plugins

In addition to using legal templates, another option is to use plugins.

Here are some great plugins for WordPress-powered websites you may be interested in checking out:

WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress

(WordPress Plugin – WP Legal Pages)

If you don’t want to bother with creating legal web pages manually, then consider using a plugin like WP Legal Pages …

WordPress Legal Pages is not a free plugin, but it’s a reasonably low-priced and well-supported plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your site and save you loads of headaches.

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

• Built-in Templates – Includes 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 the basic legal pages you will need in around 3 minutes with a few clicks of the mouse.
• Fully Customizable Pages – Includes fully customizable and easily editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms Of Service, Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy Policy and more!)
• Editable Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit legal pages like any other page on your website.
• Custom Shortcodes Integration – You can add shortcodes to any of your website or blog 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 checkbox and delete and manage these like every other WordPress page.
• Forced Options – Force page lock down. When users agree to the terms, the page unlocks, giving them access.
• Additional Features – More features get added to this plugin with each new version.

After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a new menu item will appear in your main dashboard section …

(WP Legal Pages – Legal Pages Menu)

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

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Settings Area)

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

(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Page Type)

Select from a number of built-in legal templates …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – 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

To learn more about this plugin, visit the plugin site:

• WP Legal Pages

Compliance Bar – WordPress Compliance Plugin

Compliance Bar is a simple WordPress plugin containing over twenty customizable legal page templates for your web presence …

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Compliance Bar – WordPress Compliance Plugin

Legal Suite Pro

(Legal Suite Pro Plugin)

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 Service
• 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 site. You can have legal pages installed and set up on your site in less than one minute and the license allows you to install and use the plugin on all of your websites.

Go here to learn more:

• Legal Suite Pro Plugin

If using the services of 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 website until you can afford a solicitor.

We want your site to be safe!

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

(Legal Pages Generator)

Legal Pages Generator Software lets you quickly generate essential legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Policy, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and Earnings Disclaimer.

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As stated earlier, if you do any kind of business online (or plan to), you need to ensure that your website is compliant with regulatory agencies and any terms of service (TOS) and guidelines required by third-party sites that you may decide to promote or advertise online. Your internet presence must comply with a wide range of laws and regulatory guidelines, many of which you may not even 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 are not providing legal advice on this website. Do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way to ensure that your website is compliant with all legal requirements wherever your business is based.

Legal Information

Here is a time-saving list of sites we suggest you visit to better understand what may be required of your site to comply and meet legal requirements and guidelines:

• 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 – 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
• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• United States Copyright Office

See Also …

• 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 this article has helped you understand why it’s important to have a legally compliant website. Use the information above to quickly add all necessary legal pages to your website or blog.

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