This article covers the basic requirements and considerations when building a website for your UK business.
Website domain name
It is important to find a domain name that adequately represents the business. This could be its company or trading name, or a description of the services or goods offered.
When deciding on a suitable name, you should:
- Find out whether anyone else is using the domain name using registry search tools available online;
- Explore whether you may be infringing on someone else’s right to use the name by checking if it is the name of a registered company or LLP or if there are any trademarks registered in relation to it, or if anyone else is using the branding (for example on social media);
- Consider which Top-Level Domain to use – this refers to the extension at the end of the URL. The most popular is .com, but a business operating in the UK may prefer to use .co.uk.
Once you have decided on a suitable name, you will need to register it. There are several things you need to be aware of when registering the name:
- The terms of the contract with the registrar;
- If you use a third party to manage your website, they may register the name using their details. The registered name holder holds the rights associated with a domain name, so this should be transferred to the business if appropriate; and
- There is usually an annual fee charged, and you will need to keep up to date with renewal, otherwise you could risk losing the right to its use.
Website development agreements
It is usual for businesses to hire professional website designers to design and code their website. It is important that the terms of your website development agreement protects your business. Some considerations are:
- Copyright:
Any website design agreement should provide that any copyright-protected works are assigned to the business on completion. Otherwise, the default position under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is that the first author of any text, audio, videography or photography creation (including the website source coding) will automatically own the copyright in it.
- Website testing and acceptance:
The agreement should provide for testing throughout the website’s development, with further clauses to govern what should happen if testing fails. This could include the right to terminate the agreement, the right to a refund, or alternative dispute resolution methods.
- Time-critical obligations:
It is important for a ‘development timeline’ to be planned from start to finish, so each party is aware of any deadlines, as well as a plan and timeline to remedy any defects.
Website terms and conditions
Website terms and conditions represent an agreement between your business and the website user on how the website is used. The terms should be displayed or linked to users in an obvious place from all pages of the website.
Bear in mind that, for a website selling goods and services to UK consumers, there are certain additional statutory requirements and terms should be drafted in plain and intelligible language.
Data protection
To comply with the UK’s data protection legislation, most businesses will need in place:
- Privacy notice:
If the business holds personal data about individuals, it will need to display a privacy notice detailing certain information, such as why and how you use the information, where it is stored, and whether any third parties might have access to it.
- Cookies policy:
If your website uses cookies, which most websites do, you will need a cookies policy in place. You need to ensure the information is clear so that the website users can easily understand it.
You can find out more about how we can assist your business with its data protection requirements here.
Reporting obligations
Qualifying UK businesses are obliged to make and display certain annual reports on their website, including:
- Modern slavery reporting:
Businesses (wherever formed) which carry on business supplying goods or services in the UK and have an annual turnover of £36 million or over are required to publish an annual modern slavery statement setting how they take steps to prevent modern slavery in their business and supply chains. You should display a link to this statement in a prominent place on your website.
- Gender pay gap reporting:
Employers with over 250 employees are required to publish their gender pay gap figures annually through an on-line portal. The report must be published on their own website and it must be kept online and publicly available for three years. You can find out more about how we can assist with your gender pay gap reporting here.
Legal notices
Finally, UK-registered business will need to display certain company information on their website. It is usually preferred to do this in a website footer. The following must be displayed:
- The registered company name, number and address;
- Where the company is registered;
- Contact details, including an email address and non-electronic address;
- Its VAT number, if applicable; and
- The details of any trade body or regulator applicable, including any registration number.
If you need advice on any of the issues raised above, please contact Rachael McAnulty and our Commercial team here.