Your Website Developer Gave You The Wrong Advice: Legal Policies for Coaches

Time and time again, I see websites that make me cringe because they expose the owner to so many legal risks.  

I’ve been doing legal audits of websites for as long as I care to admit. And here are the top three issues I often see:

1. Website saying: Copyright by (Insert your Website Developer)

Your website developer wants free advertisement; I get it. But by saying that, he/she owns the copyright over your website? You are in trouble, my friend. It means that your website developer can use the same design for his/her other clients simply because you don’t own the copyright over your website.  

I had a client in this same situation. She DIYd her agreement with the website developer and forgot a provision transferring the copyright to my client. The result? She found out that there are other websites out there similar to hers. We had to pay the developer to buy the copyright. A disaster!

2. Your opt-in and ‘contact us’ boxes do not allow your prospect to give consent.

Your business coach probably told you that you must get emails through your website. And that is great advice! Your coach probably failed to tell you that when you collect emails, you must comply with Data Protection Laws. Or worst, your website developer told you that compliance is not necessary at all.

Here is a rule: You should not force people to receive marketing emails. Hence: You need to get consent through your opt-in and contact us forms. Period.

3. You don’t have policies and rules on your website.  

I interviewed my clients about why they failed to include legal policies on their websites. And a resounding 50% said that their website developer told them that these policies are optional.

Big legal disaster, my friend! You can in fact, sue your developer for giving wrong advice and exposing you to legal trouble.

Your website is probably the first point of contact with your clients. You need to be able to set your rules, be transparent about what you collect and how you protect the data you collect, and be able to limit your liability on your website.  

And if your website is being accessed in the UK, US, EU, and other commonwealth countries, you must also comply with laws favoring persons with disabilities. That is why you need legal policies! 

If you see websites with several links at the bottom, those are legal policies.

But just any policy will not cut it. You need to have YOUR policies. They must be drafted taking into account your own business and your processes. If you copied them, I am 100% sure that you are still not compliant.

You probably skipped these things when you created your website. But how long can you hide from the legal monsters that make you fearful and uncertain whenever someone checks your website or avails of your services? Are you willing to stay small because you know that going big means attracting legal authorities? Don’t you want to be able to focus on your business without having to think about the legal requirements you probably missed?

There is a solution, and I can help you. I am releasing a short webinar on how you can ensure that your website is legally compliant so you can finally use this asset to bring in more sales and attract more clients, without fear of violating laws.  Of course, you will learn the legal policies for coaches and other service-based businesses as well!