Is your WordPress site legal? Do you know if your site is breaking the law, or breaching the Terms of Service (TOS) of any companies whose products or services you offer or endorse?
Internet laws and regulations were designed to protect the rights of consumers and apply to anyone who markets, sells or promotes products and services online. Anyone who owns a website risks being sued for not following compliance laws. Feigning ignorance about legal requirements won’t protect you from being slapped with a legal notice.
New laws introduced in 2014 regulating how businesses promote advertising on their sites state that if you promote anything on your website for commercial gain, you must follow certain principles of disclosure to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by regulatory agencies, such as the US-based Better Business Bureau (BBB). Search online for information about “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet for more details.
(Better Business Bureau Website)
The new laws affect various online business categories, including:
- Any form of advertising, e.g. Google AdSense
- Retarget Marketing
- Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
- Affiliate Marketing
- Product Creation
- Bloggers
- etc.
If your site does not display certain pages (e.g. terms of service, privacy statement, earning disclaimers, etc.), many sites such as Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank will not let you list your digital products for sale, PayPal may suspend your account, Facebook will suspend web applications, and you won’t be allowed to promote various advertising or online marketing networks.
If your digital presence is not compliant, you could end up facing a whole range of penalties, including fines, having your website shut down, even jail time!
This guide explains why it’s important to have a compliant website and presents inexpensive methods and solutions that will make your WordPress website compliant quickly and easily.
Does Your Website Comply With The Law?
Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice in this article. Do your own due diligence and consult legal experts about the best way of ensuring that your website fully complies with all legal requirements wherever you do business.
Why It’s Important To Make Your Website Compliant
Consider for a moment what the implications to your business would be if the following scenarios were to happen:
- A customer suffers a cardiac arrest after using your online fitness workout.
- The skin care products you sell as an affiliate marketer gives someone who purchases from your link an adverse reaction.
- You’ve let your subscribers know that you won’t sell their information, but you have not spelled out exactly what you’ll do with the information you have collected.
- Someone steals content from your website and puts it up on their website.
- There is no statement on your site letting your site users know that you are promoting a product as an affiliate that you could get paid financial benefits if they decide to buy via your link.
- You didn’t spell out the terms and conditions of your refund/return policies.
- Your visitors claim that your testimonials are all fake and try to sue you because of it.
- You haven’t disclosed in a product review that you received a free copy of the product.
- Your website publishes adult information and you did not take sufficient measures to keep underage persons from accessing it.
Consider now the documented case studies of costly compliance breaches described:
- A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would be required to give up personal information (including credit card details to complete his offer. In addition to a significant $390,000 fine, he is now required to provide a copy of the judgement to everyone he does business with for the next 20 years — including employees.
- A social networking app developer copped a massive $800,000 fine for collecting personal information without users’ knowledge and consent – including storing children’s private details.
- Facebook’s Terms Of Service does not allow users to scrape Users IDs. Many marketers took a risk and lost. Their accounts were shut down, costing them 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% had breached 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 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 whose policies they had violated, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).
Can you see how a website owner can easily become exposed to the risks of litigation?
Regardless of whether you are a:
- CPA (Cost Per Action) Marketer
- Multilevel Marketer
- Affiliate Marketer
- AdWords Advertiser
- Product Publisher
- Amazon Affiliate
- e-Commerce Store Owner
- Adult Content Publisher
- Freelancer, Consultant Or Coach
- Seller Of Any Service Or Product Online
it’s important to make sure that your digital presence complies with all laws governing the use of your site, wherever you are located.
Complying With Third-Party Services Terms And Policies
Complying with third-party companies terms and policies is important.
You are expected to let your site visitors know that your business complies with legal requirements and recommended guidelines. This not only improves consumer trust and confidence in your website, it’s also required in most cases by most companies you will interact with online.
For example:
Google requires your site to display certain information if using many of their products. This includes using Google Analytics …
(Policy requirements for using Google Analytics)
Making money online with your blogs using Google AdSense …
(Google AdSense ads policy requirements)
Or promoting your services or products via Google AdWords …
(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)
If you plan to sell information products via companies such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant networks, you will be required to add various legal pages to your site before your products can be approved for selling via their network …
(Policy requirements for vendors selling through ClickBank)
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) also requires you to include clear disclaimers and policies on your site, especially regarding the use of testimonials or product endorsements …
(Federal Trade Commission – consumer policies and regulations)
FTC Regulations Require Your Site To Comply
FTC regulations governing the conduct of businesses 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 happened in the past, this typically prompts the FTC to make an example of businesses and prosecute companies in an effort to get other businesses to comply.
If you do any kind of business online, therefore, it’s best not to take chances. Even if your business does not operate in the U.S. it’s best to protect your business interests by ensuring that your website complies with all FTC guidelines and regulations.
A number of resources online provide guidelines and examples for structuring disclaimers and disclosures to help your business meet FTC requirements. See the additional resources section at the end of this article for more information …
(Wording your disclaimers and disclosures correctly is important to avoid running foul of the law)
Social Media Applications Also Have Compliance Requirements
If you plan to develop social networking applications that will integrate with your site, you will also be required to provide sites like Facebook, Twitter, and many others with access to your legal pages …
(Apps that interface with social networking sites like Facebook also require compliance)
- If you are unsure as to whether you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of websites like Google, Facebook, etc., then you most probably are.
- If you plan to promote products or services on your site using affiliate marketing, or make money online with Google AdSense, ads for Amazon or eBay products, or use Google AdWords to drive visitors to your pages, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you are required to provide on your site to comply with their Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts shut down.
- If you have been wondering 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 3rd-party services require you to comply with their policies)
What Legal Pages Does My Website Need To Be Insured Against Legal Compliance Issues?
If you suspect that your website or blog is falling short in areas of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.
Adding the following legal pages to your site will help you stay out of trouble with many regulatory agencies and 3rd-party providers, and even help you avoid possible legal issues or even threats of legal action (e.g. “takedown” notices):
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Privacy Statement
- Terms Of Use
- Website Disclaimer Pages
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance
Additionally, you may want to consider adding any of these compliance pages if applicable:
- Affiliate Disclosure (if you promote or sell affiliate products or services)
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- External Linking Policy
- Health Disclaimers (if your website or blog provides general health or medical advice)
- Refund Policy (if you sell products or services online)
- Use Of Media (e.g. if you allow users to download media on your site)
Disclosure Pages – Types
It’s important to add correct disclosure information to your site. For example:
- No Material Connection – Informs your readers that you will not receive any type of compensation for writing the content.
- Affiliate Links – Discloses to your readers that you will be compensated if they act on your recommendation and purchase through an affiliate link.
- Sample/Review Copy – Explains to site users that you have been given a sample or review copy of the product or service you’re writing about by the author or product developer.
- Sponsored Post – Disclosure that informs readers that you have been compensated in some form to write the content.
- Third Party Advertising – Lets readers 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.
Adding Legal Pages To Your Site
Ideally, you will consult a lawyer or a legal firm and ask them to prepare the content of your legal documents. Once you have this done, there are several ways to add them to your website.
Uploading Legal Web Pages Manually To Your Website
If someone prepares and delivers the legal verbiage for you in typical 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 legal folder in your server and uploading your legal pages to this directory via FTP …
(Create a ‘legals’ folder on your web server and upload pages via FTP)
You can then add links to these pages in WordPress using custom links in your menu admin area …
(Custom WordPress Menu)
Where To Display Legal Web Pages On Your Website
After uploading your legal pages, make sure that these are kept up-to-date and display clearly to your visitors. You can add these to your WordPress sidebar (or place them in the footer of your site) to ensure that visitors can access the information from every page …
(Display legal information to users on all of your site’s pages)
We have written a detailed tutorial about adding links to pages on your sidebar menu using widgets here:
Use Legal Templates
You can find downloadable attorney-prepared internet forms and agreements by searching online, or by visiting sites like this one:
Find Legal Forms
(Find Legal Forms – Legal forms)
For more information, go here:
Alternatively, you can download a set of website legal templates designed by attorney Scott Talbert to protect businesses online …
Cut And Paste Website Legal Pages
(Scott Talbert’s Legal Pages)
These 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 name and URL, then pasted into your pages.
The legal templates included in Scott Talbert’s Website Legal Pages include:
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Copyright Notice
- Disclaimer (multi-discipline professional disclaimers)
- DMCA Compliance
- Federal Trade Commission Compliance (This proprietary FTC page reflects FTC guidelines brought into effect in March 2012)
- Privacy Policy: Google, DART, etc.
- Terms of Service (ToS) & Conditions of Use.
You can either create a new WordPress page for each 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 web server as described earlier.
Visit this website to learn more:
Legal Pages – Plugins
As well as using cut & paste templates, you can simplify things using a plugin.
Here are some legal plugins for WordPress users that you should check out:
WordPress Legal Pages
(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress)
If manually creating legal pages for your site seems too time-consuming for you, 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 premium plugin that will simplify the job of creating and implementing legal pages on your site and save you many headaches.
Some of the reasons to consider using WordPress Legal Pages plugin are:
- Pre-written Legal Templates – The plugin gives you access to over 20 built-in legal page templates created by a team of professional lawyers.
- Quick And Easy To Use – You can set up most of the basic legal pages you need in a few minutes with a few mouse clicks.
- Customizable Pages – The plugin includes customizable and easy to edit legal form templates (e.g. ToS, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Earnings Disclaimer and more!)
- Easy To Edit Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit all legal pages like every other WP page.
- Custom Shortcodes Integration – Add shortcodes to any of your website or blog pages and the information will be 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 or post lock down. Page unlocks and can be accessed only when users agree to your legal terms.
- Additional Features – New plugin features get added when new versions are released.
After installing WordPress Legal Pages, a menu feature will display inside your dashboard area …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Legal Pages Menu)
This lets you create, edit and view legal pages from the admin area …
(WP Legal Pages – Settings Screen)
With WPLegal Pages, you have the option of easily creating legal pages for different types of websites, such as business websites, niche sites, medical sites, etc …
(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Type of Site drop down menu)
You can also choose from several built-in legal templates …
(WordPress 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
To learn more about this plugin, go here:
Compliance Bar – WP Compliance Plugin
Compliance Bar is a simple plugin for WordPress websites and blogs with over twenty customizable compliance page templates for your online business …
Learn more here:
Legal Suite Pro
(Legal Suite Pro)
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 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.
For more information, go here:
If using the services of a lawyer to create your online legal documentation is currently out of your budget, then consider implementing at least some basic type of legal protection on your site until you can afford a lawyer.
We want your website to be protected!
Download the Legal Pages Generator tool below (it’s FREE!), or choose one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using attorney-written legal documents, or plugins as described in the section below.
(Legal Pages Generator)
Legal Pages Generator Software quickly generates necessary legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Statement, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and optional Earnings Disclaimer.
***
As we’ve previously pointed out, if you engage in any form of commercial activity online, you need to make sure that your website stays compliant with regulatory agencies and any guidelines and terms of service of 3rd-party services and products that you may decide to promote or offer online. Your website must comply with various regulations, 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?
Legal Disclaimer: Once again, please note that we are not lawyers and we offer no legal advice. You are strongly advised to do your own due diligence and consult legal experts to ensure that your website is compliant with all legal requirements pertaining to your specific business.
Additional Legal Information
Here is a time-saving list of additional sites we suggest you visit to better understand what your website may require to comply and meet legal requirements and guidelines:
- Federal Trade Commission Latest List Of Rules & Regulations
- Federal Trade Commission 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
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- US Copyright Office
In Addition …
- 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 why it’s important to have a legally compliant website. Use the information provided above to quickly add legal pages to your WordPress website or blog.
***
"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now