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If your small business has outgrown the small group of people that used to be your only customers and you are now offering services to general public, having terms and conditions is a must. Companies with a more modest customer base can use a traditional contract but a larger group of customers demands general terms of service.
Terms and conditions can protect your content from misuse, help bring clarity to your business, as well as limit your business liability. Having in mind their importance, here are three tips to aid you in writing terms and conditions for your business website.
Tip 1: Make it user-friendly
The challenging part with making the writing more understandable for general public is that it has to preserve the legality should there be a dispute. We are aware that legalese, that is, legal English used by lawyers or present in legal documents, is difficult to understand and there is no point hiding the message from your users. Luckily there are a number of online language tools which can highlight the parts of your text which need clarification.
Another element to pay attention to is the layout. What’s essential is that the users can clearly find their way in a heap of information and a manner to achieve that is by creating clear paragraphs with distinguishable headings. Also, make sure to include bolding and capitalization to ensure readability and for users to quickly navigate to the desired piece of information.
Since you would ultimately wish for users to read the terms and conditions or at least have a basic idea about it instead of ignoring it, you would have to prioritize their understanding of it. If the text is in its nature complex because of all the necessary legal terms, it could be useful to add a short summary of the heading that will follow. In this way, they can read through the summaries and know the fundamental details you want to convey.
Tip 2: Know what you will include
When thinking about the content, it’s best for it to be tailored to the services you provide so as to avoid any misunderstandings. If you don’t have experience with writing terms and conditions, you can find customizable legal binding contract templates which will give you peace of mind when it comes to legality. For instance, a carefully written Privacy Policy which outlines how a business collects, uses and manages users’ personal data can keep your business out of problem.
Consider also including Contact Information so it would be stated clearly how users can reach you if they have questions. Intellectual Property Disclosure should list the materials which are owned by the company so that your intellectual property rights are well-protected. If a user breaks this or exhibits any other type of unwanted behavior mentioned in the Termination Clause, you have to the right to terminate that user’s account.
If the users are allowed to create their own profiles, there should be a User Registration Clause to inform them why it is necessary to register as well as their responsibility regarding the usage of the profile. In the product making industry, Warranty Clauses should describe what is warranted and whether your business offers replacement, repair or refund in such cases, all in great detail.
Tip 3: Consider the location
The last but not least element to consider is where you will place those terms and conditions. Naturally, you would wish for the users to be able to find it quickly and for it to be easily accessible. Although some companies place terms and conditions in the FAQ section, this perhaps isn’t the best option because users are notorious for not reading the FAQ. If they really need to ask something, they rather contact your customer service or send you an email than go through the knowledge base you wrote for them so chances are that it would be disregarded in that location.
Another option is to place it in the header or footer. The footer is the location most users expect to find it and it doesn’t get in the way of browsing through your webpage. It also means that they would click on the link only when they need to which increases the chances of them getting acquainted with the terms and conditions in more detail than they usually might. On the other hand, some users might not check it out simply because they don’t have to.
To make sure every user pays attention to it, websites often ask users to agree with the terms and conditions via different banners or pop-ups in order to continue on the site. This will not ensure that they would actually do more than just slightly casting their eye on the text but it is a mighty piece of evidence in the courtroom.
Conclusion
Terms and conditions which are comprehensive and understandable protect both your business and your website users. It is crucial you take care of them on time and not when some unpleasant situation prompts you to make some guidelines and rules to protect your brand. By creating a legal piece of writing which your customers can understand and navigate with ease, you will ensure mutual respect and healthy customer relationships.
