Legally Protecting Your Website
All too often, web design clients come to me without a shred of legal protection for their website. And worse, no real understanding of what their business needs or just how crucial it is to meet the key website legal requirements. Just like you would never book a project without a contract, we don’t want to publish a website without making it legal!
The good news is that there are some wonderful resources out there to make this process as quick and easy as possible. After running my own business for over 10 years and sharing helpful finds with my clients, I’m sharing the simplest solutions I’ve found to legally protect your website.
Disclaimers: I’m not a lawyer, and this blog post is not legal advice from a professional. You’ll need to hire a lawyer for that! I do know a few things about US-based websites, though, and I’m sharing a few tips and my favorite resources here.
*My 10% off code is an affiliate code, which means I earn a small commission on each sale at no extra cost to you.
01. Privacy Policy and Cookie Consent
A Privacy Policy is a legal requirement for websites that collect any data. And there’s a 99% chance that includes you! If you think you’re not collecting any data from your site visitors, check again – it’s almost impossible not to. Do you collect email addresses, have a contact form, send a newsletter, use any type of website analytics? I’m guessing that’s a “yes”.
Along with your Privacy Policy, you’ll want to include a Cookie Consent Banner (hello, GDPR!). While platforms like Squarespace and Showit have this built into their system, Showit users will need to add one using this free tool.
02. Website Terms and Conditions
No matter what kind of website you have, it needs Terms and Conditions. This serves as the contract between you and your website visitors. Without it the content and Intellectual Property of your website isn’t protected. All those beautiful images, helpful blog posts, and pages of copy you wrote – just up for grabs on the Internet? Without a Terms and Conditions, you would have a hard time holding anyone accountable for stealing all your hard work.
This is also where you’ll want to include an AI Disclaimer if you use Artificial Intelligence in your business.
03. Terms and Conditions of Online Sales & Courses
Do you make sales through your website, like website templates, digital products, mentoring sessions, or workshop tickets? Your “contract” with those customers needs to go beyond the standard Terms and Conditions.
This should include specific language about refunds, returns, payment terms, licensing and more – every business and product is different!
04. Copyright & Legal Links
When you have all of your site’s Terms and Policies set up, it’s time to implement them into your website! Each of our website templates has a dedicated page for you to add legal terms. You can also create a new blank page for your website’s legal requirements. In the footer of your website, include a copyright disclosure and a link to your legal page(s), so they appear on every page.
Easy Legal Templates for Your Website
I’ve been using the Creative Law Shop templates since day one of my business. I keep going back because every template is so reliable, relevant, and easy. They also send out updates for new requirements (like GDPR), unprecedented circumstances (hi, Covid), and technical advancements (like a new disclosure for AI use).
The CLS templates are a simple and elegant solution for what feels like a daunting task as a business owner – and don’t we already have enough of those?
Truly, updating all of my website terms and policies this year took me under an hour! When you use my code* MONICA10 in the CLS Template Shop, you’ll save 10% (on top of any sales they’re running) and my oat-milk cappuccino fund will get a little boost at no extra cost to you.
TL;DR? Here’s what you need to know:
Your website is your business’ number one asset (besides you, of course!), and protecting it legally is just as important as any other aspect of your brand. It’s not just about having a stunning design or engaging content; ensuring your website meets legal requirements is essential to protect both you and your visitors.
As a professional website designer, I use legal templates from the Creative Law Shop for my own business. I also recommend them to my clients! Use my code* MONICA10 to save 10% in the CLS Template Shop (on top of any sales they’re running). It’s 1000x better than dealing with legal issues down the line.
