How To Add Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Is your WordPress website legal? Do you know if you are breaking any laws, rules or regulations, or contravening the Terms of Service (TOS) of any companies whose services or products you are offering or endorsing?

Internet laws and regulations are designed to protect 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 the law will not protect someone from taking legal action against your business.

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, you need to follow certain disclosure guidelines to prevent enforceable orders being issued against you by consumer protection agencies, such as the Better Business Bureau, also referred to as BBB. Look up “The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program,” which regulates behavioral advertising across the internet to learn more.

(Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program)

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

• Any type of advertising, like text link ads, Google Adsense, etc.
• Retarget Marketing
• Google Analytics (or other analytics software)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Product Creators
• Blogging
• etc.

If there are no legal pages on your web site (e.g. terms and conditions of use, privacy statement, legal disclaimers, etc.), many sites like Google won’t let you advertise, sites like ClickBank won’t allow you to sell digital products, PayPal may close down your account, Facebook could reject web applications, and you will not be allowed to promote many advertising or affiliate merchant networks.

You may also be inadvertently leaving yourself open and vulnerable to litigation.

The purpose of this guide is to make you aware that your website may be subject to legal requirements, the importance of complying with the terms of service of third-party providers whose services or products you may be recommending online, and that there are solutions for WordPress users that can help your site become more compliant, such as the plugins that we discuss further below.

Is Your Site Legally Compliant?

Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and we are not providing legal advice. As previously stated, the aim of this article is only to make you aware that your website may be subject to certain legal requirements in accordance with the laws and regulations governing business practices online and that you may be required to comply with the terms of service of providers whose services or products you use on your website or blog

Why Ensuring That Your Website Is Compliant Is Important

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

• Someone has a cardiac arrest after purchasing your online fitness workout.
• The skin care lotion you sell as an affiliate gives a number of users skin rashes.
• Your opt-in list provides a statement informing prospective subscribers that you won’t sell their information, but you haven’t clearly spelled out what you’ll do with the information you’ve collected.
• Someone steals content from your site and publishes it on their own website.
• There is no statement on your website or blog making your visitors aware that you are marketing a product as an affiliate and could earn a sales commission if visitors purchase it.
• You didn’t spell out the conditions of your refund and return policies.
• Online visitors claim the testimonials on your site are all fake and try to sue you.
• You haven’t disclosed in a product review that you were given a free copy of the product.
• Your website publishes adult information and you have not taken appropriate measures to keep underaged children from accessing it.

Consider also the real case studies of costly compliance breaches below:

• A CPA Marketer failed to provide adequate disclaimers telling online users they would have to give up personal information (including credit card details to complete a debt reduction offer. Cost = $390,000.
• A social networking app developer was slapped with a massive $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 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 randomly-picked websites, more than 90% were in violation of at least one of Google’s policies, more than 65% had broken at least two of Google’s policies, and more than 40% had breached 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 violated, which could result in loss of income (e.g. AdSense or AdWords).

Can you see how easy it is to risk being exposed to litigation?

Regardless of whether you are a:

• PPA (Pay Per Action) Marketer
• Network Marketer
• Affiliate Product Marketer
• AdWords User
• Niche Marketer
• Amazon Associate
• e-Commerce Store Owner
• Publisher Of Adult Content
• Provider Of Freelance, Coaching Or Consulting Services
• Online Seller Of Any Service Or Product

it’s important to do whatever is necessary to make sure that your online business has the right legal pages and clearly displayed to all you site users.

Complying With Third-Party Services - ToS, Policies, etc.

All of the big online companies and government regulatory agencies emphasize the need and importance of complying with the terms and policies of service providers.

You must let your site users know that your website complies will all legal requirements and recommended guidelines. This not only improves trust and confidence in your business, it’s also required by most companies you engage with online.

Here are just some examples:

Google requires you to display certain information if using many of their products and service. This includes Google Analytics …

(Policy requirements for using Google Analytics)

Monetizing your WordPress blog using Google AdSense …

(Google AdSense ads policy requirements)

And even promoting your services through Google AdWords …

(Policy requirements for using Google AdWords)

If you plan to sell information-based products through merchants such as ClickBank, JVZoo, or other established online merchant sites, you will need to add certain legal pages to your website before they will approve your products for sale …

(ClickBank – policy requirements for vendors)

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

(FTC – consumer policies and regulations)

FTC Regulations – Ensuring That Your Website Is Compliant

FTC regulations governing the conduct of businesses online were introduced in March 2012. A quick search online reveals that many websites are still 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 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 any chances. Even if your business is not located in the U.S. it’s best to protect your business interests by ensuring that your website complies with FTC guidelines and regulations.

You can find many sites that can provide guidelines and examples on how to structure disclaimers and disclosures to help your site comply with FTC requirements. See the resources section at the end of this article for more information …

(Word 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 applications that will integrate with your website, social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and many others require you to provide access to various legal pages …

(Facebook developer app – policy requirements)

• If you are unsure as to whether you are breaking the law, and/or Terms of Service policies and guidelines of companies like Google, Facebook, etc., then it’s best to assume that you most probably are.
• If you are considering promoting products or services on your site via affiliate marketing, or generating revenue with Google AdSense, Amazon, or eBay ads, or driving visitors to your website using Google AdWords, etc., then find out exactly what kind of legal information you are required to display on your site to comply with their Terms Of Service and policy requirements to avoid having your accounts terminated.
• If you have been wondering if “borrowing” a Copyright Notice is Copyright infringement, then it’s best to take proper precautions to protect yourself and your business interests.

(In addition to legal and regulatory compliance, most third-party services require you to comply with their terms of use and policies)

What Legal Pages Should You Add To Your Website To Be Insured Against Legal Compliance Issues?

If your website or blog is lacking in terms of compliance, then you will find this section helpful.

At its most basic, adding the following compliance pages to your site will help keep your business out of trouble with many consumer protection agencies and third-party service providers, and even help you avoid possible legal issues):

• About Us Page
• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• Terms Of Use
• Disclaimer Pages
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance

As well as the above, you may want to consider implementing one or more of these legal pages where applicable:

• Affiliate Disclosure (if you provide information about affiliate products or services)
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Financial Disclaimers (e.g. if your website or blog provides content about financial areas or income opportunities)
• Refund Policy (if you run an e-commerce site)
• Video/Audio Terms Of Use (e.g. if you allow users to download videos or audio files on your site)

Disclosure Pages – Types

Adding correct web content disclosure information is important. For example:

• No Material Connection – Lets visitors know that you will not receive for writing the content.
• Affiliate Links – Discloses to users that you may be compensated if they act on your recommendation and buy through your affiliate link.
• Review/Sample Copy – Explains to site users that you have been given a sample or review copy of the product or service.
• Sponsored Post – Disclosure that informs visitors that you have been compensated in some way to write the content.
• Third Party Advertising – Lets readers 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 display prominently on their sites since January 1, 2014.

How To Add Compliance Pages To Your Site

Ideally, you will consult lawyers or a legal firm and ask them to prepare the content of your legal documents. Once this has been created, there are several ways to include them in your website.

Uploading Legal Pages To Your Website

If someone prepares the legal verbiage for you in standard web page format (e.g. HTML), you can simply upload these to your site, or have someone upload them for you.

We recommend creating a legal folder on your 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 these legal pages in WordPress using custom links in your menu feature …

(WordPress Menu)

Where To Display Legal Web Pages On Your Website

Make sure that your legal pages are fully up-to-date and clearly visible to all visitors. You can add these to the sidebar (or place them in the footer of your website or blog) so that visitors have access to legal information from every page …

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

We have created a detailed tutorial on displaying links to pages on your sidebar or footer in WordPress here:

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Ready-Made Legal Templates

You can find attorney-prepared downloadable forms and agreements by searching online, or going to sites like this one:

Find Legal Forms

(Find Legal Forms)

More information:

• Find Legal Forms – Legal forms

Alternatively, you can purchase a package of legal templates created by legal attorney Scott Talbert …

Cut & Paste Website Legal Pages

(Website Legal Pages)

Cut & Paste website legal templates feature less passive voice and more plain language phrasing and can be customized with search and replace to add your own business name and URL, 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 (This proprietary FTC page reflects new FTC regulations and guidelines brought into effect in 2012)
• Privacy Policy
• 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 the pages to your server as previously described.

More information:

• Website Legal Pages

Legal Page Plugins

As well as using copy & paste legal templates, you can simplify things by using WordPress plugins.

Here are some great plugins for WordPress sites worth looking into:

WordPress Legal Pages

(WordPress Plugin – WordPress Legal Pages)

If manually creating legal pages for your site seems too time-consuming for you, then consider using a plugin like WP Legal Pages instead …

The WP Legal Pages plugin is not free, but it’s a very affordable and well-supported premium WordPress plugin that will make the work of creating and implementing legal pages on your WordPress site much easier and save you time.

Here are just some of the reasons to consider using WordPress Legal Pages plugin:

• Built-in Templates – Over 20 built-in legal templates created by professional lawyers.
• Very Quick And Easy To Use – Set up most of the legal pages you will need in a few minutes with a few clicks of the mouse.
• Fully Customizable Pages – Includes customizable and completely editable legal form templates (e.g. Terms Of Service, Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy Policy and more!)
• Editable Pages – Full WYSIWYG editor lets you edit all legal pages like every other page on your site.
• Custom Shortcodes Integration – You can add shortcodes to any of your pages and the information will then be automatically inserted into your content 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 lock down. When the user agrees to your legal terms, the page unlocks.
• New Features – More features are being added to this plugin with each new version.

When you install WordPress Legal Pages, a menu feature will appear inside your main navigation menu section …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin – Menu)

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

(WP Legal Pages – Settings Screen)

You have the option of creating legal pages for different online uses, such as business websites with products, affiliate/review websites, Amazon sites, etc …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin For WordPress – Page Type)

You can also choose from several built-in legal templates …

(WP Legal Pages Plugin – 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

To learn more about this WordPress plugin, visit this website:

• WordPress Legal Pages Plugin

Compliance Bar Plugin – WordPress Compliance Plugin

Compliance Bar is a simple WordPress plugin with over 20 customizable compliance pages for your digital presence …

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Compliance Bar – Compliance Plugin For WordPress

Legal Suite Pro Plugin

(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 & Conditions
• 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 have packaged high quality, professionally written legal disclaimers into a plugin that can be installed quickly on any WordPress powered site. Your legal pages can be installed and set up on your site in one minute or less and the license allows you to install and use the plugin on all of your sites.

For more details, go here:

• Legal Suite Pro

If using the services of legal experts to create your legal pages is out of your budget, then consider implementing at least some basic kind of legal protection on your website until you can afford to hire a solicitor.

We want your website to be legally safe!

Download the Legal Pages Generator software below (it’s FREE!), or consider using one of the better solutions we discuss in this article, such as using ready-made legal forms, or a WordPress plugin as described in the section below.

(Legal Pages Generator Software)

Legal Pages Generator quickly generates basic legal documents for your website including ToS, Privacy Policy, Copyright Notice, Website Disclaimer and Earnings Disclaimer.

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As we’ve previously pointed out, if you are making money online, it’s important that your website complies with all government regulations and any terms of service (TOS) and guidelines provided by 3rd-party services and products that you may be promoting or advertising online. If your website doesn’t comply with laws designed to protect consumer rights, you’re breaking the law.

Non-compliance 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 must do your own due diligence and consult legal experts to ensure that your website fully complies with all legal requirements concerning your specific business.

Additional Information

Below is a time-saving list of sites we recommend you visit to better understand what may be required of your site to stay compliant and meet its legal obligations:

• 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
• US Patent and Trademark Office
• US Copyright Office

Additionally …

• 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

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the importance of having a legally compliant website. Use the information provided above to quickly and easily add essential legal pages to your site.

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