Most business websites have Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy pages which seem superfluous considering users hardly ever read these things. Nevertheless they are needed for legal reasons.
In addition to the legal reasons, it appears there might be another reason to have them – Google. It has been suggested by some SEO/SEM professionals that Google may penalise websites without these documents. Maybe it’s true, maybe not.
It’s understandable that a small business might not want to pay a lawyer to draft up expensive legal documents if they are not considered necessary.
The good news is that these documents are available for free online. Download the sample document and modify it to suit your small business’s needs.
Generic Privacy Policy Pages
http://www.freeprivacypolicy.org/generic.php
http://www.visser.com.au/blog/generic-privacy-policy-for-australian-websites/
Generic Terms & Conditions Page
http://www.website-law.co.uk/documents.html
Returns Policy Page
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=164926&seqNum=8
http://www.chinookwebs.com/returnssample.asp (lists questions to consider when creating a returns policy page)
Help With Your About Us Page
http://www.onextrapixel.com/2009/07/31/the-essence-of-about-us-page-with-12-captivating-showcases/
Small Business selling products on-line
http://www.draftdocs.com.au/virtuemart/commercial/terms-and-conditions-of-trade-for-internet-purchasing.html
http://www.draftdocs.com.au/virtuemart/commercial/terms-and-conditions-of-trade-for-web-based-business.html
(the above two are available for a fee of $330 – at time of publication)
If you have come across free documents useful to on-line retailers, please let me know via the comments box, and I will add it to this list.
