Does Your Website Need A Privacy Policy?

A privacy policy is a page on your website that simply shares your legal policies around how your website collects and manages data from your website visitors.

Look in the footer (the very bottom strip) of the websites you use regularly. Every website from news sites, to social media sites, and small business websites, all typically have a Privacy Policy and a Terms of Service/Terms & Conditions page.

So as a small business in the US, you might be asking yourself: "does my website need a privacy policy (and other legal pages, too)?"

Well, that depends on two things: Whether you're collecting personal data (hint: you are), and whether you have website visitors from states and countries that have privacy protections (hint: you do!)

Oh, and I suppose it depends on a third thing, too: Whether you have something to lose from a lawsuit or fine. If you wouldn't mind getting sued or fined, then you can skip this.

My take as an SEO professional is that to cover your a** legally, having your legal pages covered is essential to make sure you don't get sued or fined by litigious web users and law practices. That means having both your Privacy Policy and your Terms of Service pages live, and that's in addition to other legal compliance requirements like cookie banners and accessibility - new blog post coming about the rest soon.

By the way, these are things a great web designer will make sure you have in place, and things I help you put in place if we work together on your new web design.

Why You Should Have a Privacy Policy

Should you have a Privacy Policy?

Are you collecting information from visitors? And do you have any website visitors from EU, California, Virginia, Texas, or an ever-growing list of US states?

If the answer is yes to both (which I assure you, it is), then yes, you need a privacy policy even if you're a small fry.

You probably have website visitors from places that require it, and you're collecting personal data even if you just have a basic contact form. Most businesses are probably doing both. After all, it's easier to create a couple of 1-page documents than it is to deal with a lawsuit, and those documents will keep you covered as privacy laws continue to change.

Full website legal compliance on privacy is becoming required in more and more places.

Legally, having a privacy policy on your website it's not a requirement to be in business.

But it is a requirement in certain jurisdictions for business websites to follow privacy practices to avoid fines and lawsuits - and those privacy practices often include having a published, publicly visible Privacy Policy that explains how your business websites collects and handles data.

Which jurisdictions require this? Well, it's complex because it keeps changing. It began with Europe's GDPR, and has expanded to states in the US like California and Virginia with strong privacy protection for their residents. But every state's requirements are a little different around who they apply to and what is needed, and each year, more states are getting on board with consumer protections - like Texas, Colorado, and Utah.

And you probably have website visitors from those places.

You might be thinking "well I don't operate in those states."

The thing is, it's not about where you operate. It's about where your visitors come from.

If your website is publicly visible around the world, you are liable to abide by a visitor's local laws the second they land on their website.

So if you write an epic blog post that is getting traffic from all over the country or even has a visitor from Germany, you're suddenly on the hook for following GDPR rules, which are the most strict.

"But what if I'm not collecting data from visitors?"

I would challenge this statement, because every business website I know of collects data.

That's includes seemingly innocent, low-stakes standards such as a basic contact form or tracking with Google Analytics.

If your site has any of these, you're collecting data:

• Google Analytics (or any analytics tool)

• A contact form

• An email opt in or freebie signup

• The Meta pixel or any other ad tracking

• A checkout or booking form

• Other forms like blog comments

Under GDPR, even an IP address counts as personal data. So if you've got analytics installed, you're collecting personal data. Sorry!

Legal Pages Also Help Your SEO

This may be a hot take in the SEO space - but I always recommend that my SEO clients publish their legal pages (a Privacy Policy & Terms of Service/Terms & Conditions pages) to help their SEO as well.

Google's requirements are a moving target, and my take on SEO is a holistic view that considers all of the data Google has access to to evaluate which websites are legitimate or not.

In my opinion, having your legal policies on your website, and using your consistent business information on them, is just one more way that you can scream "I'm a legitimate, trustworthy business! I'm consistent! I'm real!" to the AI bots and search engine overlords.

Creating Your Legal Pages Is Pretty Straightforward

If you want to follow my recommendation and get your legal pages set up, this is something you can do in a weekend. I recommend you do both a Privacy Policy and TOS (Terms of Service/Terms & Conditions) page to knock them out at once.

A website privacy policy is just a page of text, publicly available on your website, that states your policy around how you collect data and how you use it.

You'll write/build your privacy policy, pop it up onto a page called Privacy Policy, and pop that baby into your website footer as a sitewide link.

Writing it is the hardest part. You can hire a lawyer to build you a custom one, purchase a template to customize, or write one yourself.

Braden Drake (who is a lawyer for small businesses) sells my favorite templates through his Contract Club, and this is always my #1 recommendation because you can get every template your business needs (including, but not just limited to, your website's legal pages) and learn how to completely customize them for your needs. Note, I will make a small commission when you purchase through Braden's link, at no extra cost to you.

If you want to DIY it, I recommend searching for privacy policy builders, as there are many tools that can help. Or you could as Claude for help. (Don't come for me, lawyers!)

Get It Done to CYA

Every week, I'm hearing more stories of small businesses getting sued by predatory legal practices who are taking advantage of new privacy laws and the ignorance of business owners. Don't let that be you.

Even if you think it doesn't apply to you right now, each year, a more complex patchwork system of laws are created by countries and states that amp up the responsibilities of businesses to protect their visitors' data, and be clear about how they use it.

If you CYA now, you won't have to keep worrying about it.