Is your website legal? Do you know if your site is breaking any laws, rules or regulations, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any third-party companies whose services or products you are recommending or offering?
Online laws were designed to protect the rights of consumers and apply to any person who markets, sells or promotes products or services online. Every website owner risks being sued for not following compliance laws. Feigning ignorance about the law will not protect someone from taking legal action against you.
New laws introduced in 2014 regulating how businesses promote advertising on their websites state that if you promote anything on your website for material gain, then you will need to follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by consumer protection agencies, such as the 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.
(Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program)
The new laws has ramifications for several business categories, including:
- Any form of advertising, like Google AdSense
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketers
- Product Creators
- Bloggers
- etc.
If your website does not display certain pages (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy policy, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites like Google won’t let you advertise, online merchants like ClickBank won’t allow you to list digital products, PayPal may shut down your account and freeze your funds, Facebook could disapprove web applications, and you will not be allowed to enroll in most advertising or online marketing networks.
If your digital presence is not in compliance, you could also end up facing a multitude of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
In this guide, we look at why it’s important to have a legally compliant website and present simple and cost-effective solutions that will help make your website or blog legally compliant in minutes.
Is Your Website Compliant?
Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we are not providing legal advice. As stated earlier, the purpose of this article is only to make you aware that your website may be subject to certain legal requirements in accordance with the laws governing online business practices and that compliance may be required with the terms of service of providers whose services or products you endorse
Why It’s Important To Make Your Website Compliant
Are you at risk? Consider what the implications to your business would be in the following scenarios:
- A person has a cardiac arrest after they use your online workout program.
- The skin care lotion you sell as an affiliate marketer gives someone who purchases from your link allergic reactions.
- Your opt-in list provides a statement that lets subscribers know that you won’t sell their information, but you haven’t described exactly what you’ll do with it.
- Someone steals your content and puts it up on their own site.
- There is no statement on your website or blog making your site users aware that you are an affiliate for the product you are selling and could derive financial benefits if visitors buy it.
- You haven’t spelled out the terms of your refund/return policies.
- Visitors claim your testimonials are all fake and try to sue you because of it.
- You have not disclosed that you were given a free copy in your product review.
- Your site contains adult content and you didn’t take appropriate measures to restrict access by underage children.
Consider too the actual examples of costly compliance breaches described:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users 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 from mobile device address books without the owners’ knowledge and consent – including storing private information about children.
- Facebook’s Terms Of Service prohibits using software that scrapes Users IDs. Many marketers gambled that they could get away with it and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them 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 breaking at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% were in violation of at least 2 of Google’s policies, and more than 40% had broken 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 cautions or lose access entirely to the Google program they had infringed, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).
Can you see how you could be exposed to the risk of non-compliance?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- CPC (Cost Per Conversion) Marketer
- Network Marketer
- Affiliate Marketer
- AdWords Advertiser
- Niche Marketer
- Amazon Affiliate
- EBay Seller
- Adult Content Publisher
- Provider Of Freelance, Coaching Or Consulting Services
- Seller Of Any Product Or Service Online
it’s important to ensure that your website or blog remains legally compliant.
Compliance With 3rd-Party Companies Terms And Policies
Compliance with third-party services terms and policies is important.
You are obligated to let your visitors know that your business 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 many companies you do business with online.
For example:
Google requires you to display certain information when using many of their services or features. This includes using services such as Google Analytics …
(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)
Generating revenue online with your website using Google AdSense online advertising …
(Google AdSense display advertising - policy requirements)
And even promoting your services or products using Google AdWords …
(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)
If you plan to sell information products through places like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant networks, you will need to add certain legal pages to your site before they will approve your products for selling via their networks …
(Policy requirements for vendors selling through ClickBank)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires you to include clear disclaimers and statements to visitors, especially if you plan to use testimonials or product endorsements …
(Federal Trade Commission – consumer policies and regulations)
New FTC Regulations Require Your Site To Be Compliant
FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. Search online and you will see that many sites are still unaware (or choose to flaunt) these requirements. As has happened in the past, this typically prompts 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 plan to do any kind of business online, therefore, it’s best not to take any chances. Even if your business does not operate in the U.S. it’s best to protect your business by making sure that your website is compliant with FTC guidelines.
There are many online business resources that can provide guidelines on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your site comply with FTC requirements. See the additional 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 Applications Also Require Compliance
If you plan to create apps for your website users, social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and others will require you to provide access to various legal pages …
(Apps for social networks also require compliance)
- If you are unsure whether you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of service providers like Google, Facebook, etc., then assume that you most probably are.
- If you are considering promoting anything on your site as an affiliate marketer, or making money online with Google AdSense, ads for Amazon or eBay 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 need to include on your site to comply with all Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts terminated.
- If you have ever wondered whether “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, then it’s best to take proper precautions to avoid becoming a litigation magnet.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all 3rd-party websites require you to comply with their policies and guidelines)
What Compliance Pages Do I Need To Add To My Website To Be Legally Compliant?
If your website or blog is falling short in terms of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.
Adding the following compliance pages to your site should keep your business out of trouble with many regulatory agencies and external providers, and help to avoid potential legal issues or even threats of legal action (e.g. “takedown” notices):
- About Us
- Contact Page
- Privacy Statement
- Terms & Conditions
- Website Disclaimer Pages
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
Additionally, you may want to look into implementing one or more of these pages if applicable:
- Affiliate Agreement (e.g. if you sell products or services through an affiliate program)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- External Links Policy
- Health Disclaimers (if your website provides health or medical information)
- Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
- Use Of Media (if you allow media downloads on your site)
Types Of Disclosure Pages
It’s important to add correct disclosures to your website. For example:
- No Material Connection – This lets users be aware that you’re not being paid for writing the content.
- Affiliate Links – Disclosure that informs your readers that you may benefit financially if they purchase through your affiliate links.
- Review/Sample Copy – Lets your visitors be aware that you have received a review or sample copy of the product.
- Sponsored Post – Disclosure that informs visitors that you have been compensated in some form 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 website publishers to display prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.
How To Add Legal Pages Content To Your Site
Ideally, you should have your lawyer prepare the content of your legal documents. Once you have this done, there are several ways to include them in your website.
Uploading Legal Pages Manually To Your Website
If someone prepares and delivers the legal content for you in standard web page formatting (e.g. HTML), you can simply upload these to your site, or have someone upload them for you.
We recommend creating a legals directory on your web server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this folder using FTP …
(Upload legal pages to your server using FTP)
You can then easily add a link to these legal pages from your WordPress site using custom links in your menu feature …
(Custom WordPress Menu Feature)
Make sure that your legal pages are fully up-to-date and display clearly to all site visitors. You can insert these into the sidebar menu (or the footer of your website or blog) so that users can access the information from all of your pages …
(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 sidebar or footer using widgets here:
Using Ready-Made Templates
You can find attorney-drafted downloadable website forms and agreements just by searching online, or by visiting websites like this one:
Find Legal Forms
(Find Legal Forms – Legal forms)
More information:
Another option is to purchase a package of cut and paste website legal templates created by attorney Scott Talbert to protect businesses online …
Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages
(Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Form Templates)
These legal templates feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be customized with a quick search and replace to insert your own business details, then pasted into your web pages.
The legal templates included in Scott Talbert’s Legal Form Templates include:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- Disclaimer (multi-discipline professional disclaimers)
- DMCA Compliance
- FTC Compliance
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service (ToS) & Conditions of Use.
You can either create a new page for each legal form you want to add to your site, then paste the content from the templates into your web pages and publish or upload these to your web server as previously described.
More info:
Legal Pages – WordPress Plugins
In addition to using legal templates, you can simplify things by using WordPress plugins.
Here are some great plugins for WordPress users that you may be interested in checking out:
WP Legal Pages
(WordPress Legal Pages)
If the idea of manually creating legal pages for your site feels too time-consuming for you, then consider choosing WP Legal Pages instead …
WordPress Legal Pages is not a free plugin, but it’s an affordable and well-supported premium plugin that will help simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your website and save you many headaches.
Here are just some of the reasons to consider using WP Legal Pages:
- Built-in Templates – The plugin gives you access to over 20 built-in legal page templates created by professional lawyers.
- Quick And Easy To Use – Set up most of the basic legal pages you need in around 3 minutes with a few mouse clicks.
- Customizable Pages – Includes customizable and completely editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms Of Service, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
- Editable Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit all legal pages just like every other page on your site.
- Shortcodes – Add shortcodes to any of your website or blog pages and the information is then automatically inserted into your content when published.
- Exclude pages. The plugin lets you exclude pages from menus with a simple check box and delete and manage these like any WP page.
- Forced Options – Force page or post lockdown. When the user agrees to the legal terms, the page unlocks, giving them access.
- New Features – The plugin is updated with new features when new versions are released.
After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a new menu item will display inside your navigation area …
(WP Legal Pages – 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 online uses, such as business websites with products, affiliate sites, AdSense sites, etc …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Page Type)
You can also select from various pre-written legal templates …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Pre-configured 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 this powerful plugin, visit this site:
Compliance Bar Plugin – Compliance Plugin For WordPress
Compliance Bar is a simple plugin for WordPress-powered websites containing over twenty customizable legal templates for your online presence …
More info:
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 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 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 plugin licensing is very flexible, allowing you to install and use the plugin on all of your websites.
More info:
If using the services of legal experts to create your legal pages is currently out of your budget, then consider implementing at least some basic form of legal protection on your website until you can afford a solicitor.
We want your website to be legally protected!
Download the Legal Pages Generator software below (for FREE!), or choose one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using legal documentation, or a plugin - see section below.
(Legal Pages Generator)
Legal Pages Generator lets you quickly generate necessary legal documents for your website including Terms of Service, Privacy Statement, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and Earnings Disclaimer.
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As stated earlier, if you do any type of business online (or plan to), it’s important that your site remains compliant with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate how business online is done and the terms of service and guidelines for third-party products and services that you may decide to promote or advertise online. Your website must comply with a wide range of laws and regulatory guidelines, many 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, please note that we are not lawyers and we cannot provide legal advice on this website. You must do your own due diligence and consult legal experts to ensure that your website is compliant with all legal requirements regarding your specific business.
Legal Resources & References
Below is a useful list of additional sites we suggest you visit to help you better understand what your business requires to remain compliant and meet legal obligations:
- Federal Trade Commission Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
- FTC Advertising & Marketing Rules Of the Road
- FTC Advertising And Marketing On The Internet
- Better Business Bureau Website
- 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 …
- 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 legally compliant website. Use the information presented above to quickly add legal pages to your WordPress website using simple and inexpensive resources and solutions.
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