this post contains affiliate codes – this means I get a benefit at no extra cost to you!
I still remember the day I took the enneagram test. I was sitting in my cubicle at my old 9-5, and we were all discussing our types, guessing which ones each other were based on what we knew about each other.
The minute I got my results, it was like it all made sense. I was finally able to explain why I got frustrated when the dishwasher wasn’t loaded right.
Even though there isn’t technically a right way to load a dishwasher. (But yes, knives need to face up, if you ask me).
Starting a business, my enneagram number also came in to play. I’m over the top obsessed with following rules (yep, you guessed it, I’m a 1), which can be difficult in an industry where the rules are made along the way, and you sometimes have to break them to find your place.
Psst. still confused about the Enneagram? Check out Enneagram and Coffee on Instagram for a full explanation!
I can often find myself paralyzed when it comes to decision making if I’m not sure what the right way to do something is. But luckily for me, there are tons of resources out there to make sure I’m doing things just right!
Today, I wanted to share one of my favorites with you – The Creative Law Shop – the resource I use for my contracts here at Hygge Design Co.
In this post I’ll explain why you need to have Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy for your website and how you can get these set up quick and easy!
Why you need Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy for your website
As a web designer, I’ve done my fair share of website audits, and the one thing that always seems to be missing are the legal pages.
Trust me, I get it, these pages are not necessarily fun, but they are oh so important when it comes to protecting your business and the content you put out there.
So let’s take a look at what these are, and what they actually mean, shall we?!
Privacy Policy
According to the Creative Law Shop, the FTC requires you to have a privacy policy in place if you are collecting information from website visitors (check out the full blog post about that here). Whether it be a contact form or a newsletter signup, if visitors have the opportunity to leave any information behind, you need to let them know how you will use it!
Oh, and remember the lovely GDPR that rolled out? They also have stipulations on privacy policies, what needs to be included, etc. And yes, even if you’re not running your business in the EU, you still need to be GDPR compliant if any of your visitors are based in the EU!
Whew, I know this is pretty techy and maybe a little boring, but the truth is, it is just so important.
Luckily for us, The Creative Law Shop offers Privacy Policy templates and Website template bundles that makes being federally compliant a breeze. And, if you use the code IDA10, you get 10% off your purchase*. Take a look:
Terms and Conditions
While the Privacy Policy is required by law, the Terms and Conditions are not. Does that mean you don’t need to have them in place? Probably not.
The Terms and Conditions set the terms between you and your website visitors, and also help protect your rights to the stuff you put on your website (Learn more about that from Freshbooks here)
In other words, this is the part that actually helps protect your precious work and put it out there into the world, and is a way for you to further protect yourself legally.
Again, if you’re in need of Terms and Conditions to protect your work, I’d highly recommend checking out The Creative Law Shop!
How to set up the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions
Once you have your Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions prepared, it is super easy to set these up on your website.
I recommend creating one page for each, and making sure these are available in the footer of your website.
For Showit Users
Create a new page on your Showit website. If you’d like, you can copy over the header/menu area and the footer to this new page.
Then, simply create a blank canvas area where you can paste your Privacy Policy. Repeat the process to get your Terms and Conditions set up.
Once you have your pages created, edit your footer to include links to these pages!
And just like that, you’ve got your website legalities in order!
For Squarespace Users
Create a new page on your Squarespace site, either in the “not linked” section or in the footer area (depending on your template).
Insert a text block and paste your Privacy Policy. Repeat the process to get your Terms and Conditions page set up, this time pasting in the Terms and Conditions 😉
If you set these pages up in your not linked section, make sure to create hyperlinks to these in your website footer section. If you built the pages under the footer section, the links should already be showing up!
You’re all set!
Alright, my friend, make sure you get these important website legalities taken care of!
In this post I walked you through why you need to have a Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions for your website, and also included instructions on how to set this up in both Showit and Squarespace.
Ready to get this finalized? Head on over to The Creative Law Shop and use the code IDA10 to get 10% off your templates!
* this is an affiliate link, which means I may get some benefit at no extra cost to you!
