If you’ve started monetizing your blog then you probably know by now that your blog should have a privacy policy, disclosure policy, and disclaimers in place somewhere on the site.
And if you don’t yet have these on your blog, you need to implement them onto your blog ASAP.
The purpose of these various different legal policies isn’t just to take up space, but to let readers know that they are secure on your website and that they need not worry about identity theft, etc. and that you are being compensated for certain content that may appear on your website.
These policies can be a few simple sentences or can be lengthy and detailed depending on what message you want to convey, however they should all contain a few key points:
1. Your privacy policy needs to clearly state that your reader’s personal information will not be misused in any way.
This is the focal point of a privacy policy and it needs to be clearly understood that any information one of your readers may input into your blog is protected so that they have a sense of ease and security.
No one wants to be sold out to email spam lists or have their personal information compromised just by reading and commenting on a blog they love.
2. Your privacy policy needs to disclose if their information will be shared.
If you do plan on sharing your readers information with third party websites then you are obligated to disclose that information to your readers so that they can make an informed decision as to whether to include an email address or any other personal information or not.
If they know that their information could be shared and still continue anyway then that is on them at that point. If their information is given out it without them being aware ahead of time that could happen you risk making a lot of readers unhappy and potentially losing your readership.
3. Your disclosure policy needs to indicate if you are being compensated for a blog post.
Your readers trust you to provide them with open and honest opinions of product and service reviews, and if you are influenced in any way because you received a free product or a free trial of a service then they need to know that so as not to compromise the integrity of your blog.
It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy, just that you’re being compensated for the post or that you received a product or were able to test out a service for free.
4. If you are sent free infographics or content to put on your website you should link back to the original sender.
Don’t try to pass off content that was sent to you for promotional purposes as your own. You’re only going to make people angry that way.
Companies that send bloggers PR content and infographics do so to get a link back to their site and if you accept that content they deserve the link back and a disclaimer stating that they sent you the content.
5. All of your policies should be open and honest.
Your readers need to know immediately what they’re getting into by visiting your blog. That’s the only way you build trust within the blogging community and the only way that you will grow as a blogger.
While having different policies on your blog may seem like a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo, they are necessary to keeping a high level of veracity on your blog. When in doubt, disclose and disclaim so that you don’t hit any unforeseen snags along the way.
Christine Kane is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects including internet provider for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com
5 Tips to Help You Become A Problogger
Why Work From Home As A Blogger? Top 5 Reasons You Cannot Ignore
SEO Is Scary And Networking Takes Time: What Should A Blogger Do?
How To Use Blogging As A Form Of Therapy
Great tip! I strongly believe honesty to one’s audience is the single most important reputation a blogger can have.
Once you establish to your audience that you are honest, and not just their to part them from their hard-earned money, everything good follows.
Christine Kane says
I completely agree! As a blogger your audience has to completely believe in your honesty to regard you as an expert and to trust what you’re writing.
Great tips I agree with your disclosure policy it’s good that it will be in front of your reader.
Christine Kane says
Thank you
Honesty always is the best policy!
These tips are really needed to be upgraded to every blog.The first policy is important as every person want a security that the data they provided will not be misused.Thanks for the policies.
Christine Kane says
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you found them useful! A lot of blogger don’t even realize that they need these different things in place.
Nice post I agree with you all points its really great piece of stuff.
Christine Kane says
Thank you for being so kind!
I doubt people would go and read those policies when visiting a site, I don’t read them personally
But it’s good to have them there just in case. To add to the “collection”, I have a Comment Policy on my blog to set some rules for commenting. I doubt people would read that too. People just don’t like to read rules nowadays!
Christine Kane says
Even if they don’t make it a point to read the policies or disclaimers having them in place so that they can read them is important to avoid any potential legal mishaps. And the Comment Policy is a great idea! even if the readers don’t read it…
Hi Christine,
Having clear policies on a site is a must even if you are not using it for commercial purposes and of courses readers should know if you are getting paid to write a post or if you share their information with a third party, thanks for sharing these advices…
Christine Kane says
Agreed! Your readers MUST be able to trust you, no matter how big or small of a blogger you are.
are blog policies important? they do make your blog look professional.
Christine Kane says
Not only do they make the blog look more professional but they add value to your blog and help you establish yourself in your niche. The first step to becoming professional is taking the necessary steps to ensure that you are providing honest content to your readers.
Hi Christine, thanks for sharing your knowledge. I am not familiar with some points you have mentioned.
Christine Kane says
I’m glad I could help and I hope this post has clarified things for you!
I am really lucky to find this article. This is really a great help to me and like me who just start monetizing their blogs.
rakesh kumar recently posted..Easiest Method to increase traffic and Adsense- Case Study
Christine Kane says
Thank you for your kind words - best of luck to you as you monetize your blog!
Nice points! I think I haven’t really added a privacy policy and disclosure policy in my blog! Thanks for pointing the importance.
Christine Kane says
You’re welcome, and thank you for reading and commenting
I hope this provided some value for your own blog!
Christine, Very well written post !! Privacy Policy is the thing which a blog should have to more genuine user interaction !! This is not only the must have thing for blog but add more value in blog too !!
Christine Kane says
Thank you!! And yes, I agree! More people need to have a privacy policy in place - both for the blogger and readers alike!
Great tip! I strongly believe honesty to one’s audience is the single most important reputation a blogger can have.
Once you establish to your audience that you are honest, and not just their to part them from their hard-earned money, everything good follows.
Christine Kane says
That’s exactly how I feel. If you don’t let your audience know that they are important (by being upfront and honest) to you then you won’t get very far as a professional blogger.
Great reminder. It is interesting how many people forget the Privacy policy which is required by google adsense to take part in their program. The pages you mentioned are the first ones I put up on a new site…just in case I forget later, lol
Christine Kane says
Haha I am glad you have found these tips useful! We all need a little reminding about the ins and outs of legal issues surrounding blogging every now and then
Hi,
A great list of policies. Really handy, as I am considering a policy for my department. It gives me some expert ideas and ensures that I won’t forget the important issues in social media policy.
Thanks,
Rick @ Berlin.
Christine Kane says
That’s great! I wish you the best of luck and am glad I could help!
Nice article Christine. It’s very important to have these pages on your website. Thanks for sharing!
John
Nice Christine these policy are very important for every blogger. Thanks for share
Alleya says
Definitely, you really had a much more appropriate time managing projects if you have this thing on your blog. I really must consider having it and will also recommend it to some of my friends.