The bigger your blog platform is, the wider your audience and reach are. While this can mean something very different from a business perspective, it definitely attracts a lot of eyes and opinions on your writings and the writer. It can also invite a lot of complications and risks in the future. Hence it is important that you have legal pages for your blogs. It boosts your brand’s credibility and can also protect you from lawsuits.
Here are a few legal policies and practices that bloggers need to have in place for their blog pages:
1. Trademark registration
One of the most unique identifications for your blog page is the name of your page, it is what you bank on for your branding. Getting your name trademarked is an important legal step. It will save you time and money in the future and also guarantees that your name remains your property.
2. Disclaimer
Disclaimers are quite important when it comes to protecting yourself from lawsuits. For bloggers, it lets the visitors on your site know that you do not take legal responsibility for what has been published on your blog.
Any professional paper writer would agree that when you are addressing or writing about serious issues and topics, readers can assume your ideas to be advice or guidance. A disclaimer lets them know that you’re just providing information. This can protect you from potential lawsuits in the future. You don’t want to be held responsible for how people take in or do with the information that you provide.
Some common disclaimers to include in your blogs can be that; your content should not be taken as professional advice and that you shall take no liability for your content or third-party links.
3. Terms & Conditions
This dictates the terms and conditions that a viewer has signed up for when they engage with your content. They are your site’s rules and protect your rights and intellectual property.
The main purpose of the page is to protect your rights and your intellectual property. It should include information on your intellectual property rights, and the rights & obligations of your audience. It should also state how you have the authority to terminate access to anyone if it goes against your policies. For example; if anyone used abusive language on the blog.
Further do include a limitation of liability as it legally describes exactly what users can do and what is forbidden.
4. Privacy Policy page
You need to have a privacy policy page on your blog. It should disclose information about what and how information is collected on the site as well as details of how it will be used. It informs your viewers and is a show of transparency and helps builds trust.
5. Disclosing sponsorships, affiliate programs, and ads
If you have any affiliate programs on your blog and are monetizing them in any way, you should let your audience know of them. Additionally, if you are writing about something or promoting it as a sponsored post, you should disclose that information too. This allows your viewers to make informed decisions for themselves. It also makes you look more transparent and prevents showcasing any misleading advertisements.
Hence, it doesn’t matter whether you are blogging for fun or as a business, you need to protect yourself and your property by having your legal bases covered. Even if you do not have a full-scale legal plan mapped out, make sure you have the basics put in place.
