Is your WordPress site legally compliant? Do you know if you are breaking any laws, or breaching the Terms of Service (TOS) of any 3rd-party companies whose products or services you are offering or endorsing?
Online laws are designed to protect the rights of consumers and apply to any person who sells, markets or promotes goods or services online. Every website owner risks being sued for not following compliance laws. Feigning ignorance about legal requirements will not protect you from being slapped with a legal notice.
Recent laws introduced in 2014 regulating how businesses promote advertising on their sites clearly state that if you promote anything on your site for profit, you will need to follow certain principles of disclosure to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by consumer protection departments, such as the US-based Better Business Bureau (BBB). Look up “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet for more details.
(Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program – Better Business Bureau)
The new laws affect several business activities, including:
- Any form of advertising, e.g. Google AdWords
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Product Creation
- Bloggers
- etc.
If there are no legal pages on your site (e.g. terms of service, privacy policy, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, digital marketplaces like ClickBank won’t let you list your digital products on their network, PayPal could suspend your account, Facebook could disapprove your applications, and you will not be allowed to promote a number of advertising and affiliate marketing networks.
You may also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to legal action.
The purpose of this post is to help make you aware that your website are required to comply with certain legalities according to laws that govern online businesses, the importance of complying with the terms of service of external providers whose services or products you may be selling on your website, and that there are easy solutions for WordPress that can help your sites become compliant, such as the tools that we list further below.
Does Your Website Comply With The Law?
Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice. You must do your own due diligence and consult legal experts about the best way to ensure that your website fully complies with all laws in your country or region.
Why Making Your Website Compliant Is Important
Is your business at risk? Consider what could happen to your business in the following scenarios:
- A person has a heart attack after using your online fitness workout.
- The skin care lotion you promote as an affiliate marketer gives people an allergic reaction.
- 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’ll do with it.
- Someone copies content from your site and publishes it on their website.
- You have not divulged to visitors that you are an affiliate for the product you’re promoting and may receive a commission if visitors buy it.
- You haven’t spelled out the terms of your refund/return policies.
- A visitor claims that the testimonials on your site are misleading and decides to sue you.
- You did not disclose that you received a free copy in your product review.
- Your site contains adult information and you didn’t take appropriate measures to restrict access by underage children.
Consider now these actual case studies of costly compliance breaches:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would be required to give up their personal information (including credit card info to complete an offer they were promoting. Cost = $390,000.
- A social networking app developer received a massive $800,000 fine for collecting personal information from mobile device address books without the owners’ knowledge and consent – including storing private details 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, resulting thousands of dollars 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 in violation of at least two 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 notices 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 targeted for litigation through non-compliance?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- CPC (Cost Per Conversion) Marketer
- Multilevel Marketer
- Affiliate Promoter
- AdSense Publisher
- Product Publisher
- Amazon Affiliate
- EBay Seller
- Adult Content Publisher
- Freelancer, Consultant Or Coach
- Seller Of Any Product Or Service Online
You need to ensure that your website or blog has the right legal pages and information displayed to site users.
Complying With Third-Party Companies - ToS, Policies, etc.
Leading online companies and government regulatory agencies emphasize the need of observing the terms and policies of 3rd-party service providers.
You are required to let your site visitors know that your website complies with all necessary laws and recommended guidelines. This not only improves consumer trust and buyer confidence in your site, it’s also a requirement of many companies you will engage with.
For example:
Google requires your site to display legal information when using their products or service. This includes using Google Analytics …
(Google Analytics – Policy Requirements)
Monetizing your online properties using Google AdSense …
(Google AdSense advertising - policy requirements)
And even promoting your business using Google AdWords …
(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)
If you plan to sell information-based products using merchants like ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant networks, you are required to add a number of legal pages to your site before your products are approved for selling via their network …
(Policy requirements for selling via ClickBank)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires you to display clear disclaimers and policy statements on your site, especially when concerning the use of product testimonials or endorsements …
(FTC – consumer guidelines and regulations)
FTC Regulations – Ensuring That Your Site Is Compliant
New FTC regulations governing the conduct of doing business online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online will reveal that many sites are unaware (or choose to ignore) these requirements. As has already been the case, this typically prompts the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute website owners 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 any chances. Even if your business is not physically located in the U.S. you should protect your business by ensuring that your site is compliant with FTC regulations.
You can find many online resources that can provide guidelines 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 laws and regulations)
Social Media Applications - Don’t Forget These
If you are planning to create applications for your site, you will also be required to provide sites like Twitter, Facebook, and many others with information about your legal pages …
(Apps for social networking sites also require compliance)
- If you are unsure whether or not 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 anything online as an affiliate marketer, or monetize your pages with Google AdSense, ads for eBay or Amazon products, or using Google AdWords to drive visitors to your pages, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you need to provide on your site to comply with all Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid 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 third-party websites 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 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 website will help your business keep out of trouble with most regulatory agencies and 3rd-party service providers, and avoid potential legal issues):
- About Us
- Contact Page
- Privacy Statement
- Terms And Conditions
- Website Disclaimers
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
In addition to the above pages, you may want to look into implementing one or more of these pages:
- Affiliate Agreement (e.g. if you provide an affiliate program)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- External Links Policy
- Health Disclaimers (if your website or blog provides advice about health or medical areas)
- Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
- Media Terms (if you allow media downloads on your site)
Disclosure Pages – Types
Adding the correct type of web content disclosure is important. For example:
- No Material Connection – Informs your readers that you will not receive compensation for writing the content.
- Affiliate Links – Lets site users know that you may benefit financially if they buy through one of your affiliate links.
- Review/Sample Copy – Disclosure that informs your readers that you have received a review or sample copy of the product or service.
- Sponsored Post – Discloses to your readers that you have been compensated in some form to write the content.
- Third Party Advertising – Informs users 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 Compliance Pages To Your Site
Ideally, you will have a lawyer prepare the content of your legal documents. Once you have this prepared, there are several ways to include them in your website.
Upload Legal Pages To Your Site
If someone prepares and delivers the legal verbiage for you in typical web page format (e.g. HTML), you can simply upload these to your server, or have someone upload them for you.
We recommend adding a legals directory to your web server and uploading HTML pages containing your legal documentation to this folder via FTP …
(Upload legal pages to your web server using FTP)
You can then add a link to your pages from your WordPress site using a custom WordPress menu …
(Custom WordPress Menu)
After uploading your legal pages, make sure that these are kept up-to-date and clearly accessible to all visitors. You can insert links to your legal pages into your sidebar (or the footer section of your website or blog) to ensure that users have access to legal information from every web page …
(It’s important to display legal pages to visitors on all of your website’s pages)
If you need help displaying links to pages on your sidebar menu using widgets, see this tutorial:
Store-Bought Legal Templates
You can find downloadable attorney-drafted disclosures and internet forms and agreements by searching online, or by going to sites like the ones shown below:
Find Legal Forms
Visit this website to learn more:
Another option is to download a package of cut & paste website legal templates drafted by legal attorney Scott Talbert to help businesses protect themselves online …
Cut And 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 a quick search and replace to add your own business details, then pasted into your web pages.
The legal templates included in Scott Talbert’s Legal Forms 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 page for each legal form you want to add to your website, then paste the content from the templates into your web pages and publish or upload your legal pages to your web server as previously described.
More info:
Legal Pages – WordPress Plugins
In addition to using templates, another option for adding legal pages to your website is to use WordPress plugins.
Here are some legal WordPress plugins worth looking into:
WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress
(WordPress Plugin – WP Legal Pages)
If setting up legal pages manually seems too time-consuming for you, then consider choosing a plugin like WP Legal Pages instead …
This is not a free plugin, but it’s a low-priced and well-supported plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your site and save you a great deal of time and effort.
Here are just some of the benefits of using the WP Legal Pages plugin:
- Pre-written Templates – Includes over 20 built-in legal page templates created by a team of professional lawyers.
- Quick And Easy To Use – Set up most of your basic legal pages in a few minutes with a few mouse clicks.
- Fully Customizable Pages – The plugin includes fully customizable and easily editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms Of Service, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
- Easy To Edit Pages – WYSIWYG editor lets you edit all legal pages just like any page on your website.
- Custom Shortcodes Integration – Add shortcodes to your website or blog pages and the information is then automatically inserted into your pages 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 other WordPress page.
- Forced Options – Force page lockdown. When a user agrees to your 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 feature will appear inside your main dashboard menu section …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Legal Pages Menu)
This lets you view, create and edit legal pages from the admin area …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Settings Area)
You can create legal pages for different online uses, such as business websites, review websites, e-commerce sites, etc …
(WP Legal Pages – Create different legal page types)
Select from a number of pre-written legal templates …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Built-In 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
Visit this website for more information about this powerful plugin:
Compliance Bar Plugin – Compliance Plugin For WordPress
Compliance Bar is a simple WordPress plugin that includes over twenty customizable compliance pages for your web presence …
Learn We’ve written a detailed article about this plugin here:
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 secured rights to high quality, professionally written legal disclaimers and packaged them 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 less than one minute and the license allows you to install and use this plugin on all of your sites.
Go here for more information:
If using the services of a lawyer to create your legal pages is currently out of your budget, then consider implementing some basic kind of legal protection on your site until you can afford legal services.
We want your website to be legally protected!
Download the Legal Pages Generator tool below (for FREE!), or consider using one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using legal forms, or plugins - see section below.
(Legal Pages Generator)
Legal Pages Generator quickly generates basic 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 do any kind of business online, it’s important that your website is found to comply with regulatory agencies and any terms of service (TOS) and guidelines required by 3rd-party products and services that you may be promoting or advertising online. If your website doesn’t comply with laws intended to protect consumer rights, you’re breaking the law.
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?
Legal Disclaimer: Once again, we are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice. You are strongly advised to do your own due diligence and consult legal experts to ensure that your website fully complies with the law pertaining to your business.
Additional Legal Information
Below is a useful list of websites we suggest you visit to help you better understand what may be required of your website to comply and meet its legal requirements and guidelines:
- FTC Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
- FTC Advertising & Marketing Rules Of the Road
- FTC Advertising And Marketing On The Internet
- Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program – 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
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- US Copyright Office
In Addition …
- 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
We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of having a legally compliant website. Use the information provided above to quickly add legal pages to your website or blog.
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