Website Terms and Conditions - Boring, Scary and Essential
What are Website Terms and Conditions?
First it is very important define what I mean by 'website terms and conditions' ;.Better known as 'terms of use' or 'terms of service', these documents set out what is expected of website visitors and usually include various disclaimers and legal notices. Some also contain a privacy policy, which deals with how a website will treat information provided by users. But because privacy policies are another topic in themselves, in this post I will refer to everything but the privacy policy.
What should they include?
What should enter in the terms of for a website will really depend on what website it is. Obviously the needs changes for a simple blog versus a major commercial site. While there is a lot of stuff which is optional, certain things which should arguably be included for all websites. So here is the examples of the key points it is worthwhile including if people need to draft up terms of use for your website:
a statement that people using the website will be bound by the terms of service (so they are effective);
a disclaimer and limitation of liability statement (to reduce the risk that visitors should sue the website and blogsite owner);
a statement which discusses links go back external sites, and whether affiliate links may be used;
a clause which identifies the local law applicable in determining any disputes under the terms of use (always good to possess a home ground advantage);
a paragraph regarding the conduct of visitors on the site (something that encourages people to play fair and discourages online shenanigans); and
a statement outlining the intellectual property arrangements, and permitted more info uses of website materials.
There aren't any doubt plenty of other things which will also must be included when drafting the terms of service for your blog or website. But this list is a superb place to get started.
Website Terms and Conditions Templates
Now you may well be wondering if in the home . easier to just download some terms of use from somewhere. Well, some quick Googling does reveal a few templates, but it is tricky to discover which one to use as they can vary a lot in what they do. Even then, it is very important be sure that the template you use matches your website. This may require some customization, or at best merging a few different terms and conditions templates.
The real problem is finding a starting place, particularly because drafting website conditions will be really overwhelming. So in preparing the terms of use for one of my websites I decided to help simplify things. If you would like see which of the free website conditions and terms templates I recommend, then please visit my blog at http://affiliateplayground.net/blogging/website-terms-and-conditions-templates/. Get started today and you'll have the terms and conditions finished for your website and blogsite before you know it.