The legal pages your site needs

Legal pages are the least loved part of a website and are usually left until last. Which ones you need depends on your business, and some are not optional.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you take payment or process personal data, have your texts reviewed by a lawyer.

For everyone: privacy notice

If your site collects contact forms, keeps visitor statistics or takes newsletter sign-ups, you are processing personal data. You need to tell visitors:

• What you collect (name, phone, email, IP address)
• Why you collect it
• How long you keep it
• Who you share it with (hosting provider, email service)
• What rights they have and how to contact you

The notice should be linked next to the form, visible to the person submitting it.

Cookie notice

If the site tracks visitors — analytics, advertising — you must disclose cookie use. A simple brochure site using only a session cookie carries a lighter obligation.

Practical advice: do not install tracking tools you do not genuinely use. A tool you never installed needs no notice.

If you sell online

These are mandatory and their absence can carry penalties:

• Distance selling agreement — parties, product, price, delivery, payment, right of withdrawal.
• Pre-sale information form, which the customer must see and accept BEFORE paying.
• Returns and withdrawal terms, including the statutory period and its exceptions.
• Delivery information — timescales and cost.
• Business details — registered name, address, tax details, contact.

Terms of use

Not mandatory, but useful: it sets out who owns the content, what users may not do, and the limits of your liability. Particularly worthwhile for sites with accounts or user content.

Where to put them

Keep these as separate links in the footer. On the checkout page, the pre-sale information and distance selling consent should sit directly above the payment button as tick boxes — and payment should not proceed until they are ticked.