When you’re building website, it’s easy to get caught up in the design, content, and user experience. But there’s one crucial element that often gets overlooked: website legal pages.
If you’re running any kind of website — whether it’s a blog, an online store, or a service-based business — you need to have clear, compliant legal pages.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to keep these pages up-to-date automatically. Keep reading to find out how.
What’s Ahead?
Why Website Legal Pages Matter
Legal Pages Protect Your Business
Legal pages like privacy policies and terms of service aren’t just formalities. They’re the backbone of your website’s legal protection.
These pages spell out your rights and responsibilities, setting clear expectations for how users interact with your site. Having these in place can shield you from legal disputes and help you comply with laws like GDPR and CCPA.
Legal Pages Build Trust with Your Visitors
People care about their privacy, and they should. A straightforward privacy policy shows your visitors that you respect their personal information. This helps build trust, which can lead to more engagement and ultimately, more business.
In an article by the Harvard Business Review (HBR):
- “Companies that are transparent about the information they gather, give customers control of their personal data, and offer fair value in return for it will be trusted and will earn ongoing and even expanded access.”
- “Companies that conceal how they use personal data and fail to provide value for it stand to lose customers’ goodwill—and their business.”
Website legal pages might not be the most exciting aspect of web design, but they play a crucial role in establishing credibility. When visitors see that you’ve taken the time to address privacy and terms of service, it reassures them that your business is legitimate and trustworthy.
Overview of Essential Website Legal Pages
There’s more to legal compliance than just having a privacy policy. Here’s a quick rundown of the most common types of legal pages you might need on your website and why they’re important:
| Website Legal Page | What’s it for? | Who needs it? | Is it required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terms of Service (ToS) | Rules and guidelines for using the website or service | Worldwide | Mandatory |
| Privacy Policy | How user data is collected, used, and protected | GDPR (EU), CCPA (California), Australia, Canada | Mandatory |
| Cookie Policy | Details cookie usage on the website | GDPR (EU), ePrivacy Directive (EU), U.K. | Mandatory [if cookies are used] |
| Refund and Return Policy | Terms for returns and refunds | Wordwide | Mandatory [if selling products] |
| Service Level Agreement (SLA) | Outlines performance and service expectations | Primarily U.S., U.K., Canada | Optional [depends on service type] |
| Disclaimer | Limits liability and clarifies scope of responsibility | U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia | Good to have |
| End-User License Agreement (EULA) | Licensing terms for software or digital products | U.S., U.K., Canada | Optional [software-related] |
| Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) | Defines acceptable behavior on the website | U.S., U.K., EU | Good to have |
| GDPR/Data Processing Agreement | Outlines data processing and protection under GDPR regulations | GDPR (EU), U.K. | Mandatory [if processing data] |
| Affiliate Disclaimer | Discloses relationships with affiliate programs and commissions | U.S. (FTC), Canada | Mandatory [if engaging in affiliate marketing] |
| Earnings Disclaimer | Clarifies that income statements and earnings potential are not guaranteed | U.S., U.K., Canada | Good to have [especially if discussing income potential] |
Do Website Legal Pages Have SEO Value?
When it comes to SEO, legal pages like privacy policies, terms of service, and disclaimers are often overlooked. These pages typically don’t have direct SEO value in terms of driving traffic or ranking for competitive keywords. However, their presence on your website is still important for a few reasons.
How Legal Pages Influence Google’s TrustRank
Google’s TrustRank algorithm evaluates and ranks websites based on trust factors, and having a comprehensive privacy policy is a significant contributor. Google considers sites that offer clarity on data protection as more reliable, potentially improving your site’s TrustRank and overall SEO performance.
While there’s debate over whether these pages should be indexed—since they are low-value from a search perspective—their presence can still positively influence how Google perceives your site.
For serious SEO efforts, establishing trust with transparent legal pages is essential. It’s not just about protecting your visitors; it’s also about presenting your website as trustworthy in the eyes of search engines.
Should Legal Pages Be Indexable?
Whether or not to allow search engines to index your legal pages is a common question. The general consensus among SEO experts is that these pages should not be indexed.
Here’s why:
- Low Content Value: Legal pages usually contain very generic and repetitive content that isn’t optimized for keywords. Allowing them to be indexed could dilute the overall keyword relevance of your site.
- Potential Duplicate Content Issues: Since legal text often includes standardized language that can be similar across many websites, it could trigger duplicate content issues, which might negatively impact your SEO.
- PageRank Dilution: Indexing legal pages could spread your website’s PageRank thinner across pages that don’t contribute to your SEO goals, reducing the effectiveness of your more valuable pages.
Best Practices for Legal Pages and SEO
- Noindex Tag: To prevent search engines from indexing these pages, it’s recommended to use a
noindextag in the HTML header of your legal pages. This tells search engines to exclude these pages from their index while still allowing them to crawl the pages. - Robots.txt: Another option is to block these pages in your
robots.txtfile. However, thenoindextag is generally more precise, as it only removes the specific pages without affecting your site’s crawlability. - Internal Linking: While it’s important for users to easily find your legal pages, avoid linking to them excessively from high-authority pages on your site. Instead, place links to legal pages in the footer or other low-priority sections of your website.
- Structured Data: If you want to go the extra mile, consider adding structured data (like
WebPageschema) to your legal pages to clearly indicate their role to search engines.
Google’s Emphasis on User Experience
Google consistently updates its algorithms to favor websites that offer a superior user experience. A comprehensive privacy policy can contribute to this experience by ensuring transparency and security, elements that are highly valued by both users and Google.
Sites that respect and protect user privacy are likely to rank better on search engine results pages (SERPs), especially as part of Google’s broader focus on TrustRank.
However, when using tools like Google Analytics, you’re required to include a statement about this in your privacy policy or cookie policy.
This also means you might need to add a cookie banner to inform visitors, particularly if your site attracts users from the EU. This banner can be annoying for users and may impact the user experience, which is why it’s crucial to implement it correctly.
Want to Offer Privacy Without the Cookie Banner?
One of the biggest headaches for website owners is the cookie consent banner. It’s often necessary to stay compliant, but it can be a real eyesore and disrupt the user experience.
That’s where Fathom Analytics comes in.
Fathom Analytics is a cookieless analytics tool that keeps you compliant with GDPR and other privacy laws — without the need for a cookie banner.
Why Fathom Analytics?
- No Cookies, No Banner: With Fathom, you can skip the cookie banner and still collect the data you need.
- GDPR Compliance: Fathom is designed to keep you on the right side of privacy regulations.
- Fast and Lightweight: It won’t slow down your site, which is great for both you and your visitors.
I use Fathom on all my websites and offer it to clients who want a cookieless website experience.
Disclaimer: I Don’t Write Website Legal Pages
Now that we’re getting into the nitty gritty of website legal pages, I want to be clear about one thing.
I will never, ever write anyone’s legal pages.
Throughout my copywriting career, I’ve always refused to write legal pages.
Why? Because I’m not a legal writer.
I’m a website copywriter (and now web design agency owner).
Legal pages require specialized knowledge that goes beyond crafting compelling content. They need to be accurate, compliant, and up-to-date — and that’s not my area of expertise.
But don’t worry, I have a great solution for you!
Use Termageddan for Your Website’s Legal Pages
I love Termageddan.
Termageddan is an automated service that takes the hassle out of creating and updating legal pages like privacy policies and terms of service.
It’s a simple, cost-effective way to keep your website compliant without worrying about the legal details.
What Termageddan Offers:
- Automatic Updates: Your legal pages are updated automatically whenever the laws change.
- Tailored to Your Business: Customize your policies to fit your specific needs.
- Affordable: Termageddan offers a budget-friendly alternative to hiring a lawyer, without compromising on quality.
Plus, get 10% off your first year with this link .
Final Thoughts
Website legal pages might not be the most exciting part of running a website, but they’re essential for protecting your business and building trust with your visitors.
With tools like Fathom Analytics and Termageddan, you can ensure your website stays compliant and user-friendly without the usual headaches.
Need help setting up or optimizing your website’s legal pages, or looking to improve your overall website experience? I’m here to help.
Book a free 15-minute consultation, and let’s discuss how we can make your website both compliant and effective for your business.
