One of the worst situations you can find yourself in as a business owner is to break the law.
As digital business continues to grow at an extraordinary rate and the rules keep changing, it’s vital to stay informed about what’s happening and ensure that your site remains compliant with all laws and regulations, especially if having an online presence is a significant factor in your overall business strategy.
Recent laws introduced in 2014 regulating how businesses promote advertising on their websites state that if you plan to promote anything on your website for profit, then you must follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory agencies, such as the BBB, or Better Business Bureau. 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 consequences for several online business categories, including:
- Any form of advertising, e.g. contextual ads
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketers
- Product Creators
- Blogging
- etc.
Without certain legal pages on your site (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy statement, financial disclaimers, etc.), many third-party sites like Google won’t let you advertise, digital marketplaces like ClickBank won’t allow you to list digital products for sale, PayPal could suspend your account, Facebook could reject web applications, and you will not be allowed to promote various advertising and online marketing networks.
You may also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to legal action.
In this article, we look at the importance of having a compliant website and present simple ways that will make your WordPress website or blog compliant quickly and easily.
Does Your Website Comply With All Legal Requirements?
Disclaimer: Please note that we are not lawyers and we cannot offer legal advice. 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 federal, regional or local laws that govern business practices online and that you may be required to comply with the terms of service of third-party companies whose services or products you promote
The Importance Of Making Your Website Compliant
Consider what the implications to your business would be in the following scenarios:
- Someone suffers a cardiac arrest after purchasing your online workout program.
- The skin care products you sell as an affiliate gives someone allergic reactions.
- You’ve told your subscribers that you will not sell their information, but you have not spelled out exactly what you plan to do with the information you’ve collected.
- Someone steals your content and puts it up on their own website.
- There is no statement on your site telling your site users that you are promoting a product as an affiliate that you will receive an affiliate commission if visitors purchase via your link.
- You have not spelled out the terms and conditions of your refund policies.
- Your visitors claim your testimonials are fake and decide to sue you.
- You didn’t disclose in a product review that you were given a free copy of the product.
- Your site publishes adult content and you haven’t taken appropriate measures to keep underage persons from accessing it.
Consider now the real examples of costly compliance breaches below:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would be required to give up personal information to complete his offer. In addition to a substantial $390,000 fine, he is now required to issue a copy of the judgement to everyone he does business with for the next 20 years — including employees.
- 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 children’s private details.
- Facebook’s Terms Of Service prohibits users from scraping UIDs. Many marketers gambled that they could get away with it and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
- An independently-conducted 2010 study by Brad Geddes of SearchEngineLand, showed that, of a couple of hundred websites picked at random, more than 90% were in violation of at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% were breaking at least two of Google’s policies, and more than 40% were breaking 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 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 becoming targeted for litigation through non-compliance?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- CPC (Cost Per Conversion) Marketer
- MLM Networker
- Affiliate Product Marketer
- AdSense Publisher
- Niche Publisher
- Amazon Associate
- e-Commerce Store Owner
- Adult Content Publisher
- Provider Of Freelance, Coaching Or Consulting Services
- Online Seller Of Any Service Or Product
It’s vitally important to make sure that your online business complies with all laws and regulations governing the use of your site, wherever you are located.
Compliance With 3rd-Party Services Terms And Policies
All the leading online companies and government agencies that regulate trade emphasize the importance of observing the terms and policies of 3rd-party service providers.
You are required to let your visitors know that your website complies with all necessary laws and recommended guidelines. This not only improves trust and confidence in your site, it’s also required by most companies you interact with online.
Here are just some examples:
Google requires websites to display legal information if using their services and features. This includes Google Analytics …
(Policy requirements for using Google Analytics)
Generating revenue online with your WordPress site with Google AdSense ads …
(Google AdSense - policy requirements)
Or promoting your services via Google AdWords …
(Google AdWords – Policy Requirements)
If you plan to sell digital products using places such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant networks, you will need to add legal pages before they will approve your products for selling via their networks …
(Policy requirements digital product vendors selling through ClickBank)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also requires that you display clear disclaimers and disclosures to visitors, especially when concerning the use of testimonials or product endorsements …
(FTC – consumer policies and regulations)
FTC Regulations – Ensuring That Your Site Is Compliant
FTC regulations governing how business is conducted online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online reveals that many sites are still unaware (or choose to flaunt) these requirements. As has already been the case, 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 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. we strongly recommend protecting your business interests by ensuring that your site is compliant with all FTC guidelines.
You can find many online business resources that can provide guidelines and examples for structuring disclaimers and disclosures to help your site meet FTC requirements. We provide a number of references and links to useful resources at the end of this article …
(It’s important to structure your disclaimers and disclosures correctly to avoid running foul of laws and regulations)
Social Media Applications Also Have Compliance Requirements
If you plan to create apps that will integrate with your website, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and others will require you to provide information about various legal pages …
(Apps that interface with social networking sites also require compliance)
- If you are unsure as to whether or not you may be breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of service providers like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
- If you are considering promoting anything online via affiliate marketing, or generate revenue online with Google AdSense, eBay or Amazon ads, or driving visitors to your site with 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 have ever wondered whether “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, take proper precautions to protect yourself and your website.
(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, almost all third-party services require you to comply with their policies)
What Compliance Pages Do You Need To Add To Your Website To Be Legally Compliant?
If your website lacks in areas of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.
At its most basic, adding the following legal pages to your website should keep your business out of trouble with many consumer protection authorities and 3rd-party service providers, and help to avoid potential legal issues):
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Privacy Statement
- Terms And Conditions
- Disclaimers
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
In addition to the above pages, you may want to look into implementing one or more of the following pages:
- Affiliate Agreement (e.g. if you provide an affiliate program)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Earnings Disclaimer
- External Linking Policy
- Financial Disclaimers (e.g. if your website or blog provides advice about financial areas or income opportunities)
- Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
- Use Of Media (if you provide users with access to videos or audio files on your site)
Types Of Disclosure Pages
Adding the right disclosure information to your website is important. For example:
- No Material Connection – Disclosure that informs visitors that you are not receiving compensation for writing the article.
- Affiliate Links – Informs visitors that you will receive compensation if they purchase through affiliate links on your site.
- Review/Sample Copy – Lets users be aware that you have been given a sample or review copy of the product by the author or developer.
- Sponsored Post – Discloses to your readers that you were compensated in some form to write the article.
- Third Party Advertising – Lets visitors 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 website publishers to show prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.
Adding Legal Content To Your Site
Ideally, you should consult a lawyer 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.
Uploading Legal Web Pages Manually
If someone prepares the legal verbiage for you in HTML format, you can simply upload these to your server, or have someone upload them for you.
We recommend creating a legal folder in your server and uploading your legal pages to this folder (e.g. via FTP) …
(Upload legal pages to your server using FTP)
You can then easily add a link to your legal pages from your WordPress site using custom links in your menu administration …
(Custom WordPress Menu)
Make sure that your legal pages are up-to-date and clearly visible to all site visitors. You can add links to your legal pages to the WordPress sidebar (or the footer section of your website or blog) to ensure that visitors have access to legal information from all pages …
(Display legal information to users on all of your website’s pages)
We have created a detailed tutorial on displaying links to pages on your sidebar or footer in WordPress here:
Templates
You can easily find downloadable attorney-drafted forms and agreements by searching online, or going to sites like this one:
Find Legal Forms
(FindLegalForms.com – Attorney-drafted legal forms)
More info:
Another option is to purchase a package of website legal templates designed by attorney Scott Talbert to protect businesses online …
Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages
(Website Legal Pages)
Cut & Paste website legal templates were written by an attorney and feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be customized with search and replace to insert your own business details, then pasted into your legal pages.
The legal templates included in Scott Talbert’s Legal Templates include:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- Disclaimer
- DMCA Compliance
- FTC Compliance (This proprietary FTC page accommodates new FTC regulations and guidelines that came into effect in 2012)
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service & Conditions of Use.
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 pages and publish or upload your legal pages to your server as described previously.
Go here for more details:
Legal Pages – WordPress Plugins
In addition to using copy & paste templates, you can simplify things by using a plugin.
Here are some plugins for WordPress users worth looking into:
WordPress Legal Pages
(WordPress Plugin – WP Legal Pages)
If creating legal pages manually seems too time-consuming for you, then consider installing WordPress Legal Pages instead …
This is not a free plugin, but it’s a very affordable and well-supported premium plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your website and save you a great deal of time and effort.
Here are just some of the benefits of using WP Legal Pages:
- Pre-written Legal Templates – Includes over 20 built-in legal templates created by professional lawyers.
- Quick And Easy To Use – You can set up most of the basic legal pages you need in a few minutes with just a few clicks of the mouse.
- Fully Customizable Pages – Includes fully customizable and easy to edit legal form templates (e.g. Terms Of Service, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
- Editable Pages – WordPress content editor lets you edit all legal pages just like every other page on your website.
- Custom Shortcodes Integration – You can add shortcodes to any of your WordPress pages and the information will then be automatically inserted into your pages when you publish.
- Exclude pages. Exclude pages from menus with a simple checkbox and delete and manage these like any other page on your website.
- Forced Options – Force page lockdown. When the user agrees to your legal terms, the page unlocks, giving them access.
- New Features – More features get added to this plugin with each new version.
When you install WordPress Legal Pages, a menu feature will appear in your main dashboard area …
(WordPress Legal Pages – Legal Pages Menu)
This lets you view, create and edit your legal pages from the admin area …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin – Settings Screen)
With WPLegal Pages, you can easily create legal pages for different types of websites, such as business websites, affiliate sites, AdSense sites, etc …
(WordPress Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Page Type)
Select from various pre-configured legal templates …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – 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
Visit this website to learn more this plugin:
Compliance Bar – WP Website Compliance Plugin
Compliance Bar Plugin is a total compliance & disclaimer solution for your digital presence …
Learn more about the 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 & Conditions
- Earnings Disclaimer
(Legal Suite Pro Plugin – 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 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).
Visit this site to learn more:
If hiring a lawyer to create your legal pages is currently out of your budget, consider implementing at least some type of basic legal protection on your site until you can afford legal services.
We want your business to be protected!
Download the FREE Legal Pages Generator tool below, or choose one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal documentation, or plugins as described in the section below.
(Legal Pages Generator Software)
Legal Pages Generator allows you to easily generate basic legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Statement, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and Earnings Disclaimer.
***
As stated earlier, if you engage in any form of commercial activity online, you need to ensure that your site is compliant with all laws and regulations and the guidelines and terms of service (TOS) provided by 3rd-party products and services that you may decide to promote or endorse online. Your website or blog must comply with a whole range of laws and regulatory guidelines, 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, please note that we are not lawyers and we cannot provide legal advice in this article. You must do your own due diligence and consult a legal expert about the best way to ensure that your website fully complies with all legal requirements in your country or region.
References And Legal Resources
Here is a useful list of websites we suggest you visit to help you better understand what your site may require to comply 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
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
- AdWords Help – What to include in your privacy policy for remarketing
- ClickBank – Creating Your First Product
- Facebook Platform Policies
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the importance of having a compliant website. Use the information provided above to quickly and easily add essential legal pages to your website.
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)