As a business owner, you’ve most likely interacted with customers who made choices while using your website or app that weren’t compatible with your company policies.
Making a terms of use agreement for your website can help you explain and enforce the rules your users must follow when accessing your services, but it also:
In this article, we cover what a terms of use agreement is, why you need one, compare real-life examples, and provide you with our free terms of use template.
Terms of use are the rules, specifications, and requirements for the use of a product or service. They serve as a contract between the product or service provider and user.
Despite the different names, these are all the same type of agreement.
While terms of use policies aren’t required by law, it’s in your best interest to post one so you can maintain control over your website or app and pursue legal enforcement if users try to take advantage of your services.
Let’s discuss these reasons for having a terms of use in more detail.
Your terms of use page may limit website abuse because it outlines and helps you enforce the rules you expect your customers to follow when accessing your services.
If someone does break your rules, you can point to your terms of use policy to streamline and simplify the response process.
You can limit your liabilities in your terms of use policy, which helps protect your website or app from being held responsible if your users experience things like:
By establishing your businesses’ liabilities, you can limit what users can and can’t sue you for, which may help you save thousands of dollars in legal fees.
You can establish your intellectual property rights within your terms of use and explain to users how they can and cannot reuse, reproduce, or copy your materials.
Part of your terms of use explains to users how your company handles and resolves conflicts. If a user is ever in contention with your terms of use, you can point to your dispute resolution clause to efficiently settle the issue.
A well-written terms of use policy helps set your customers’ expectations, which increases trust between you and your users.
People today expect to see a terms of use agreement on your website or app. If you don’t post one, you risk losing customers to competitors with more transparent legal policies.
The specific clauses you’ll need to put in your terms of use agreement depend on the type of business you conduct.
That being said, below we go over the most common clauses found in terms of use policies.
The introductory clause of your terms of use agreement sets the expectations for your users by defining what the agreement is for and who it covers.
The prohibited or acceptable use clause in your terms of use agreement outlines all rules your users must follow when accessing your services.
If your website or app gives users a lot of control and freedom while using your services, consider putting multiple use clauses within your terms of use.
The clause above explains Etsy’s rules for account creation, but they also have a clause covering their guidelines for the content users post and another clause about the general use of their services.
If needed, you can customize the clauses within your terms of use similarly to Etsy so you can include all relevant rules and regulations for your unique business.
Your AUP is still part of your terms of use agreement, but by formatting the rules into their own shareable policy, you can give this information to your users faster and more efficiently.
We recommend keeping the guidelines within this clause broad, giving you more wiggle room to manage user accounts that break your rules.
As a business owner, you probably have images, videos, branding, and content you own and want to protect, which you can outline in a property rights clause within your terms or use.
You should also explain if or how these materials can legally be reused, reprinted, or duplicated by any third parties and might consider including a copyright disclaimer.
Read how Walmart communicates their intellectual property rights in the sample terms of use agreement below.
The highlighted text below shows how Etsy links to their privacy policy in multiple spots throughout their terms of use agreement.
It’s important to note that there are other requirements you must follow to remain compliant if your company falls under those data privacy laws, so read our comprehensive guide to learn the differences between a privacy policy and terms of use agreement.
Your terms of use document is a great place to outline the rules around pricing and payments that you expect your customers to follow.
Tell your users what types of currency you take, what payment methods are accepted, and what happens if they miss a payment.
If your company focuses on selling products that you ship directly to your customers, you should also include links to other policies within this clause outlining those customer services, including any of the following that your company might use:
If you sell products online, you know how difficult it is to ensure the information is always accurate and up to date.
You can use this clause to explain to your users that your company is not responsible for any product discrepancies and state that you can end or refuse sales or promotions at any time without notice.
In the terms of use example below, the highlighted text shows how Walmart reserves the right to end promotional codes without notice.
A limitation of liability is a statement from your company exclaiming that you’re not responsible for damages your users may suffer from accessing your services. It’s in your best interest to keep this clause as broad as legally possible.
Below is another example clause from Etsy’s terms of use policy.
A user contributions clause outlines the rules your users must follow when posting something to your website or app. Here, you can also inform your users about what rights they retain over that content.
Below, see how Etsy communicates this clause to their users within their terms of use policy.
If you use external links on your website or app, include a clause in your terms of use policy stating that you are not responsible for the content or materials posted on those pages.
A dispute resolution clause explains to your users what process your company follows in response to conflict or controversies that arise regarding your terms of use.
Below, read how Mailchimp explains the informal negotiations they use if disputes arise.
Your terms of use agreement is not a fixed policy; it should change with your business to reflect your most current rules and procedures.
You should outline your process for how these policy changes will occur directly in your terms of use and state how you’ll communicate the changes with your users.
See an example of this clause below from Mailchimp.
It’s in your best interest to include your company contact information at the end of your terms of use agreement because you want your users to reach you if they have questions or wish to report a breach of the policy.
Below, see how Walmart shares an email address, mailing address, and multiple telephone numbers that users can use to ask questions about their terms of use.
When it comes to displaying your terms of use agreement, you should link to it in multiple locations throughout your website or app to ensure your users can always find it.
There are several common places where you should link to your terms of use, which we cover thoroughly in the next section.
The website footer is the most common place you can find links to terms of use agreements, and for a good reason — your users will be able to access the policy no matter what page of your website they’re on.
Below, see an example of a terms of use linked in the footer of Walmart’s website.
If your website or app allows users to create profiles, you want to ensure they have access to the rules and expectations they must follow before they make their account.
Keep your customers informed by embedding a link to your terms of use directly on your new account creation page, which gives them a chance to read and agree to the policy.
The example below shows how Etsy links to their terms of use whenever someone creates a new profile.
It’s a good idea to link to your terms of use agreement on your payment screens, that way, your users know what rules, processes, and procedures affect them during the purchasing process.
You might also consider including a link to the policy in your promotional emails, order confirmation emails, and shipment tracking pages.
See how Best Buy includes their terms of use on their payment screen in the example below.
You should link to your terms of use agreement in your privacy center.
A privacy center is a section on your website or app that holds all your privacy compliance documents, legal agreements, and any other policies you want your users to easily find and read.
We recommend you link to your privacy center in your website footer, like Facebook in the example below.
For your terms of use to be enforceable, your users must read, understand, and agree to it.
You can cover the first part of user consent by writing your terms of use in a way that’s easy to understand and posting it in multiple spots throughout your website or app.
One way to get your users to agree to your terms of use document is by asking them to select a checkbox to show they’ve read and agree to your policy, this is known as the clickwrap method of consent.
The clickwrap method is considered direct consent because your users are aware that selecting the checkbox means they agree to your terms, which is easier to hold up in court than implied consent methods.
Below, see how the clothing store American Eagle uses the clickwrap consent method for their terms of use agreement.
Another way you can enforce your terms of use is by using browsewrap consent, which means your users agree to your policy by taking an action.
Usually, browsewrap consent is written in the introduction of a terms of use document and expresses that anyone who uses your services agrees to the policy. But you can also phrase it oppositely and state that if someone does not agree to your terms, they cannot use your website or other services.
In the screenshot below, read how Apple uses browsewrap consent in their terms of use.
Implied consent is typically enough to enforce your terms of use agreement. However, it can be tricky to hold up in court because of its ambiguity. Your website users could argue that they never realized they agreed to a policy by using your website or app.
In the next section, we look at two real-life examples of terms of use policies from larger companies to help inspire you while you work on making your own.
A great example of a terms of use policy that is easy to find, navigate through, and understand comes from the clothing brand American Eagle.
Not only do they link to their policy in the footer of their website, payment page, and their new account creation portal, but they also include multiple points of contact for users who may have questions, comments, or concerns about their agreement, as seen in the example below.
We also like how American Eagle consistently links to other relevant policies throughout their terms of use, as shown below in the screenshot.
Like American Eagle, you should put links to your other policies throughout the different clauses in your terms of use, that way your users can always access the right documents and agreements.
They make it as easy as possible for their global customer base to access, read, and understand their policy by linking to different languages right in the introductory clause, see below.
All of the red text in Disney’s terms of use are live links that lead to other versions of the same agreement or allow users to download and keep a copy of the document.
In the case of Disney’s terms of use table of contents, pictured below, the live links jump the user directly to the associated clause.
Even though Disney’s clauses are long, they are written in simple terms and are very thorough, like their property rights clause pictured below.
When you go to make your own terms of use policy, remember to format it in a way that is easy for your users to navigate through by using a table of contents and clearly titled clauses.
In the next section, we cover some quick and easy tips you can follow to ensure you have a good terms of use agreement for your website or app.
When users read your terms of use policy, you want them to understand what they’re agreeing to. You should write your terms of use in a simple, straightforward way and avoid unnecessary jargon.
Some companies summarize important clauses for their users in plain language, which you might consider adding to your agreement.
A terms of use policy varies drastically from one business to the next, so be sure to include the clauses that are most relevant to your website or app.
For example, if you allow users to post content and interact with one another on your website, you should include a user contribution clause in your terms of use. However, this clause may be unnecessary if your website only sells retail goods and does not allow users to post or share anything.
You should try to be extra thorough with the clauses in your terms of use policy, though, so you don’t accidentally leave something out.
No matter what you do, don’t copy someone else’s terms of use policy. Not only will their agreement not cover all the rules your website or app requires, but legal agreements are copyrighted.
Copying someone else’s terms of use is considered plagiarism and is not worth the risk, especially when you can use a free terms of use agreement template instead.
A free terms of use website or app template is a great resource for business owners like you because it simplifies the process of making such a complicated policy, which saves you time and money.
Some templates, like ours, are designed to be simple to read, which is ideal because users must be able to consent to the policy.
For your convenience, we answered some of the most frequently asked questions we get about terms of use policies below.
After customizing the terms of use text to your liking, you can copy it into the HTML of your terms of use page.
A terms of use is a valuable resource that can help you maintain power over your website or app and pursue proper legal action if anyone tries to take advantage of your services. Your terms of use page also helps minimize liabilities, protects intellectual property, and assists with legal disputes.
By clearly outlining all rules and prohibited activities for your website, you are properly setting your users’ expectations, increasing trust and transparency.
