updated November 2023
Legal Protection to support all that you are building in Just 30 minutes!
It is officially Legal Love ❤️ month here at Web Designs by Teresa, and today I wanted to share with you the absolute MUST HAVES for your website when it comes to protecting your business and your website content.
Plus I am going to share with you how you can do this in just 30 minutes! Oh and I even have a fun little playlist to make this process of boring legal stuff fun. So let's get this party started 😉
Legal Protection Website Must Haves...
1. Copyright Notice
I realize that all website templates out there today have this built into the footer of your website. Some even update automatically, which is awesome, but did know that to truly protect your website content you want to have more than just the current year?
Websites are always evolving, and new content is often added. Think blog posts, new portfolios, updated images that are all your own. By listing a date range in your copyright section you are protecting everything you have shared from the very beginning.
To properly update the date on your copyright notice start with the year of the oldest published elements of your website and ending with the current year. That will protect anything new you publish throughout the year.
And did you know that the copyright symbol can be really important?
While the symbol © isn't required in all countries (those who belong to the Berne Copyright Convention) it is required in some. Additionally, this symbol is internationally recognized so those unable to speak the language your website is written in will still know your website is protected by copyright.
Properly displaying your Copyright notice...
- Use the symbol
- Start with the year of your first published content (blogs, images, etc.)
- End with the current year
- Include your business name
- Add all rights reserved (not required but helpful to communicate clearly)
Example: © Copyright 2017 - 2022 Web Designs by Teresa, all rights reserved.
2. Website Disclaimer
This is the page that covers you from liability for a variety of different reasons. Things such as
- Your advice is not legal advice, tax advice, or professional advice
- Your advice is not health advice from a doctor
- That testimonials do not guarantee results
- That results depend on each individual's efforts and circumstances
- Everything else you need to protect your business
By clearly stating these items that pertain to your business on a page that is clearly displayed on the website you are protecting yourself, your business and all that you have built.
3.Website Terms & Conditions aka Terms of Use
Your Website Terms & Conditions page (sometimes referred to as the Terms of Use page) explains the terms of using your website to all those who visit. This is especially important for those selling products and services online.
By adding a Terms & Conditions page you are covering
- Intellectual property rights for content on your website
- Permission for you to use visitors' communications with you as testimonials
- Limitation of liability that you can incur for a visitor's use of your website
- Disclaimer of warranties of any information and products on the site
- Everything else you need to protect your business
4. Privacy Policy
This is a big one, because protecting and maintaining your website visitors privacy is big. You want to be a person and brand that can be trusted, and the Privacy Policy makes it clear what you collect and why you are collecting.
Now you may be thinking that you don't really collect information on your website, but if you are using any kind of
- Pixels
- Analytics
- Contact form
You are gathering information, and you don't want to risk having your website shut down or put yourself in legal jeopardy by skipping this step.
Where do I get legal pages?
There are a TON of resources online that offer website legal page templates, and some are even free. But this is not an area that I recommend looking for the bargain. This is protecting your livelihood and your future. Getting a free mediocre template is like putting a heart covered bandaid on a broken arm. It may offer some level of emotional support, but not a lot else.
So here is one of the times I am going to recommend you invest in someone you trust and spend the money. If you are not sure who to trust let me share with you my online legal resource Termageddon a policy generator that updates your website as the laws change.
Your Legal Love Checklist...
- Grab a cup or coffee, tea or whatever feels good
- Crank up some energizing music (check out my playlist)
- Log in and go to the footer of your website to update your copyright information. Remember to include the symbol and range of content dates
- Save those changes!
- Pull up your legal pages and review them (or get them if you don't have them yet)
- Update the "Last Updated" date for each policy
- Give yourself a high five for a job well done!
