Designing and creating the perfect website for your business isn’t where the hard work ends. Whilst you’ve got to make sure that your site looks great and works well, you also need to make sure that it’s actually legally compliant. At the end of the day, a legally non-compliant site will lose you far more customers and visitors than a slow site.
Making your website more legally compliant doesn’t have to be highly complicated and time consuming – you just need to make sure that your bases are covered. Keep at the forefront of your mind how you’d like to be treated as a consumer, and be sure to treat your own consumers the same, if not better.
Working to make your website more compliant may sound daunting at first, but we’ve put together some easy steps you can take to help make your site more legally compliant.
Transparency is Key
It should be standard practice for any business to be transparent to their customers, users, and anyone that interacts with their business. This fact also applies to your business’ website. It’s especially important for businesses that offer products or services, as visitors are more likely to be inputting sensitive data.
You should always be transparent about any fees your customers may incur from your business. This includes, but isn’t limited to: any upfront fees, the rates you charge, and any deposits that would need to be paid. If there’s something you’d want to know about as a consumer, you should provide your own website visitors with that information.
To make your site more legally compliant, you should outline any fees your consumers may incur, and be fully open and honest about the services you are (or aren’t) able to provide. Aside from being common courtesy, it will also establish you as a reputable brand to your visitors.
Outline All Your Terms
The footer of your website is the best place to outline all the terms your visitors should know about as it’s easily accessible and visible. This includes things such as your privacy policy, terms and conditions, and cookie policy. Here, it’s also a good place to include things such as FAQs and information about the ways in which data collected can be used.
Do You Need Trademarking?
Adding a trademark to your brand name is not that expensive and can start from just £1,000 or $1,500. This means that legally no one can copy your name, logo or slogan without facing legal action. This process takes just a few weeks and can be done independently, without the help of a lawyer (unless you are a large company and working internationally.)
Use Pop Ups and Tick Boxes
The most important thing to remember is that if you need consent from your visitors for anything, you must get it. Using pop ups on your website is a good way to obtain the GDPR consent you may need easily from your visitors. It’s only a minor inconvenience for your customers and it can save you from a major inconvenience further down the line.
Pop ups and tick boxes can also be used to enable users to choose their cookie preferences and data collection preferences. This gives visitors more control and ensures you remain compliant with the law. Allowing users to choose their preferences is also a good way of remaining transparent with your users.
Use a Professional Compliance Consultant
If you deal with sensitive data or you offer regulated activity such as insurance or financial products, you may need the help of compliance consultants to make sure that your legal requirements are fine-tuned.
Being involved in a breach of data or failing to maintain regulatory standards can be incredibly costly for an organisation. With the help of a professional law firm, you can have your terms and conditions and any other important regulatory work tidied up nicely to protect you and your business.
The opinions expressed here are those of the legal authors themselves, not necessarily the views of the site or its editors. Independent legal advice in your jurisdiction is recommended.
