Website compliance for UK small businesses

Your website may collect personal information, process payments, and use cookies to understand visitors’ behaviour, which all carry legal responsibilities. Failing to meet website compliance standards can potentially expose your business to regulatory penalties, customer complaints, and reputational damage.

Our guide below, created in collaboration with Markel Law, explains the key elements of website compliance for UK small businesses, self-employed professionals, and charities, and includes a free downloadable compliance checklist.

What is website compliance?

Website compliance refers to ensuring that your website meets the legal and regulatory requirements that apply to how it operates. This can include how personal information is collected and stored, how cookies are used, what information visitors receive before making purchases, and whether the website is accessible to people with disabilities.

The exact requirements typically vary depending on the nature of your business and website. For example, if you run an online retail business which processes customer payments, your website will have different obligations from a consultant who has a website showcasing their client work.

Meeting website compliance standards is not a one-off task. As your organisation grows, introduces new services, or adopts additional technologies, you may need to review your website regularly to ensure it continues to meet current legal requirements.

Why website compliance matters

Website compliance is about more than avoiding legal issues; it can also help to demonstrate your business’ professionalism and strengthen customer confidence.

A compliant website can help your organisation to:

• Build trust with customers, clients, and donors
• Demonstrate transparency about how personal data is used
• Reduce the risk of complaints or regulatory investigations
• Support compliance with UK data protection legislation
• Improve accessibility for a wider audience
• Increase visibility in search engine results
• Stand out from the competition
• Protect the reputation of your business

For many visitors, your website creates the first impression of your business. Clear policies and processes, as well as transparent communication, can reinforce confidence before a customer makes an enquiry or completes a purchase.

Building trust and ensuring accessibility can be particularly important for charities. Our guide to building a website for your charity explains how to plan, design, and launch a website to help support your organisation’s goals.

Website compliance checklist

Following the below steps can help you to ensure your website remains compliant. To help you monitor your progress to creating a compliant website, we have also created a downloadable one-page checklist.

1. Understand which regulations apply

The first step in ensuring compliance is understanding the specific legal requirements that apply to your website. This may include the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, as well as consumer protection laws and accessibility requirements.

Understanding your obligations from the start can make it easier to implement the right policies and notices for the website.

2. Display required business information

UK businesses are generally required to display certain information on their websites. Depending on the structure of your business, this may include:

• Business name
• Registered office address
• Company registration number
• Place of registration VAT number (where applicable)
• Contact details

Displaying this information clearly can improve transparency and help demonstrate credibility.

3. Publish a clear privacy policy

If your website collects any personal information from visitors or customers, such as enquiry forms, newsletter subscriptions, event registrations, or online purchases, you may need to include a privacy policy explaining how that information is collected, used, and protected.

A privacy policy can include information such as:

• What personal data the website collects
• Why the data is collected
• The legal basis for processing data
• How long information is retained
• Whether data is shared with third parties
• Individuals’ rights under UK data protection legislation
• Contact details for privacy enquiries

You can aim to write the policy in straightforward language that visitors can easily understand, rather than focusing on complex legal terminology.

4. Implement a cookie consent banner and policy

Many websites use cookies to improve functionality, analyse visitor behaviour, or personalise marketing. UK privacy laws require organisations to provide clear information about non-essential cookies and, in many cases, obtain consent before placing them on a visitor’s device.

You can use a cookie banner to allow users to accept or reject optional cookies, and you can also include a separate cookie policy to explain:

• What cookies are used
• Why the cookies are needed
• How long cookies remain active
• Which third parties may receive information
• How visitors can change their preferences

Many website platforms, including GoDaddy, WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, offer cookie consent tools or integrations. However, businesses remain responsible for ensuring these settings reflect how their specific website uses cookies., offer cookie consent tools or integrations. However, businesses remain responsible for ensuring these settings reflect how their specific website uses cookies.

5. Make your website accessible

Website accessibility is increasingly recognised as an important part of compliance and customer service. Accessible websites can make it easier for people with disabilities to navigate your content using assistive technologies such as screen readers, keyboard navigation, or voice controls.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (also known as WCAG) provide a set of recommendations for improving web accessibility that are internationally recognised and demonstrate your commitment to inclusivity.

Many modern website builders include accessibility tools, although you may still need to review content to ensure it is appropriate for your market. For more guidance, read our article on how to make your website accessible.

6. Review your marketing consent wording

Email newsletters can be an effective way for small businesses to engage customers, however marketing communications need to be handled carefully.

When visitors subscribe to marketing emails, the wording in the sign-up form should clearly explain what they are agreeing to receive. Consent may need to be freely given, specific, informed, and easy to withdraw.

Providing links to your privacy policy can help subscribers understand how their information will be used, and clear, transparent wording can help to build trust while reducing the likelihood of complaints about unwanted marketing communications.

7. Include appropriate terms and conditions

Website terms and conditions explain the rules that apply when visitors use your website. Depending on your business, these may cover:

• Acceptable use of the website
• Intellectual property rights
• Website availability
• Limitations of liability
• Links to third-party websites
• Governing law and jurisdiction

If you sell products or services online, you may also need separate customer terms of service covering pricing, delivery, cancellations, refunds, and returns to comply with UK consumer regulations, including the E-Commerce Regulations 2002, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. Failure to comply can result in enforcement action from Trading Standards or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Well-drafted terms can provide greater clarity for customers while helping to reduce the likelihood of contractual disputes.

8. Put data processing agreements in place

stripeMany organisations use third-party providers to process personal information. These may include website hosting companies, email marketing providers, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, payment processors, or cloud storage providers.

Where a supplier processes personal data on your behalf, you may be required to define each party’s responsibilities and demonstrate compliance with data protection legislation. Established platform providers, such as Microsoft, Mailchimp, Stripe, and GoDaddy, provide standard data processing terms that customers can review and accept.

9. Keep website security up to date

Website compliance also depends on protecting your visitors’ data, as data breaches not only damage customer trust but can also carry fines and penalties.

Practical measures to strengthen your website’s security include keeping software updated, using secure hosting providers, maintaining SSL certificates to encrypt visitors’ information, restricting administrator access, and monitoring for vulnerabilities.

Many website builders and hosting providers automatically manage security updates and hosting infrastructure, although businesses remain responsible for protecting customer information.

For more practical guidance on reducing cyber risk, read our guide on how to protect your business from cyber-attacks.

10. Review your website regularly

Website compliance is not a task that can be completed once and forgotten. New services, changing legislation, new software products and integrations, and evolving business activities can all affect your legal obligations.

Scheduling regular reviews can help you to ensure that your website continues to reflect current practices, particularly if you introduce new marketing tools, payment systems, or customer services. Audits can include testing accessibility, updating privacy and cookie policies, and scanning for security vulnerabilities.

Keeping policies accurate and reviewing your website’s content periodically can help to maintain customer confidence and avoid unexpected risks. Your business may also benefit from professional legal advice if your website involves complex contractual arrangements, extensive data processing, or regulated activities.

As a small business owner, you may want to consider protection against legal disputes and cyber incidents. Explore our cyber insurance, legal expenses insurance, and business insurance to help safeguard your organisation. You can also discover help and guidance for small businesses and self-employed professionals in our knowledge centre.

 

Please note: This article provides guidance for information purposes only and is accurate at the time of production. It should not be relied upon wholly when making or taking important business decisions – always seek the services of an appropriately qualified professional. The views expressed by websites referenced to are limited to those of the websites, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Markel Direct. Markel Direct is not affiliated with any of the brands, companies or websites mentioned in this article.