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An informative website offering visitors an engaging experience is one thing. Ignoring legal obligations, despite the possibility of severe penalties for non-compliance, is quite another.

There are many laws governing the websites of UK registered businesses. For example, they must display company information, including their business name, place of registration, registered number, registered office address, details of any regulator if it undertakes regulated activities and the VAT number. This should all be easy to locate on the site.

The collection, storage and use of personal data, including the sharing or selling of information, is a growing area of concern. It is essential that businesses establish the necessary policies and procedures.

In 2011 the law changed on cookie use, and visitors must now positively agree to their implementation. Websites must clearly explain their use, the information they gather and how it is used, and by whom. Usually by continuing to use the site, the visitor consents.

Naturally website owners want to obtain visitor email addresses to assists their marketing programs. Where an email address is freely given in relation to a particular enquiry or transaction, they can be contacted about this and related goods and services. However, if the same email address is used for any other marketing communication, the recipient should be provided with a way to opt-in or out of receiving that information from the company and third-party affiliates. This must not be a pre-ticked opt-in box - still a common problem.

All email marketing must contain your identity and give the recipient the ability and means to unsubscribe from the service and be removed from any list that holds their contact details. When a business collects and uses personal data it becomes a data controller, so it must explain what information is being collected and why. The website must have a Privacy Policy that explains to users how information will be used, which should be easy to find and contain a method for contacting the individual designated as the data controller (usually an email link).

New, more stringent data protection laws from Europe are currently being considered and are expected to be implemented early in 2015, with potentially large fines for non-compliance. Now would be a good time for businesses to examine the way they work and change relevant policies in good time, rather than being surprised by the new regulations.

Although terms and conditions are not a legal requirement for a website, a good set of terms and conditions can prevent many future problems and help protect the business, by clearly stating what the business does and what intellectual property (IP) it owns on the site. They should also prevent visitors from 'framing' or 'deep linking' to your site - which might imply some professional endorsement of the site that links to yours. It's also a good idea to include a 'disclaimer of liability,' warning visitors that any information provided is accurate to the best of your knowledge, but should not be taken as fact.

For many site owners, allowing user generated content (UGC), where individuals can post comments, reviews, pictures etc., is becoming increasingly important to engage visitors. But, if you allow content to be added to your site, it's essential that you have an acceptable use policy (AUP) to protect your business from any illegal or offensive material being posted, allowing you to take action.

Terms and conditions should not be confused with terms of supply, which are a legal necessity for any business selling goods via its website. These terms will have to instruct on payment, delivery, refunds, complaints, limit of liability and consumer protection - but this would require an article in itself! NC