What legally needs to be on a website?
Adhering to website-related laws is dependent on where you are based primarily, but you also need to consider those you may end up marketing to. It is imperative to do some of your own research, and ensure you are covered.
For example, in Google Ads you now have to specifically note that you are not running EU political ads.
Many of the legal necessities stem from privacy laws, and court disputes with tech giants. For example, Europe established GDPR as a data privacy and protection law. This had the website world in a frenzy when it rolled out, as people were worried they’d get fined or sued.
A similar thing happened with ADA. Again, folks scrambed to make sure their website would be compliant to avoid a surprise fine or legal notice.
We can’t give a definitive list of what has to be on your website to ensure you’re abiding by the law, but here are some suggestions of what you should have on your website for legal purposes:
- Privacy Policy
- Terms & Conditions
- ADA plugin or dedicated effort to ensure your site can be accessible to everyone
- A cookie/tracking notice, or accept/decline when users land on your site (for anyone using analytics or any kind of tracking)
- There are also GDPR plugins you can utilize
- Copyright/Trademark notices
- If you’re in the health, financial or other spaces like that-you may have a disclaimer that needs to be placed in your footer (bottom of the website). Or on specific pieces of content like this, you can add a disclaimer. We’d like to disclaim that this is not official legal advice, just guidance and suggestions : )
- Some businesses may need to be insured, so showcasing that insurance is beneficial
If you have all of this in place on your website, you should be in pretty good shape. But again, check local/country laws. I would recommend leveraging AI to speed up the information gathering process, and help you accomplish the implementation of each item. Alternatively, a digital marketing agency like webFEAT Complete can take care of it for you.
Sources and More Information:
https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/
https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/19ank9t/what_are_some_things_that_are_legally_required_to/
https://www.hhs.gov/web/building-and-managing-websites/development-process-and-milestones/website-requirements-checklist/index.html
https://termly.io/resources/articles/legal-requirements-for-websites/
