What You Need to Know About State Laws When Advertising On Your Site

Putting up advertisements on your website is a lot more involving than simply coming up with a catchy phrase and graphics. You should also adhere to state laws so you don’t end up paying a fine or facing some other consequence. Read on to see what you need to know about state laws when you’re advertising on your website.

Your Advertisement Should Not Be Misleading

The state and federal governments both have bodies in place to ensure that consumers and other industry players aren’t harmed by your advertising. Because of this, you should make sure that your advertisement doesn’t make false claims and promise things that you can’t or won’t deliver. For example, in the case of supplements and medication, you should not tell the public that the product is capable of having a certain effect when it doesn’t. This may predispose them to harm if they use your product in the hopes that it will have a certain effect, but then it doesn’t.

Don’t Advertise Products that Aren’t Available

Another way to avoid getting into trouble with the laws governing advertising is to avoid advertising products that aren’t available. This is because you may make people in the population plan on making a purchase of a certain item only to find out that it’s not in stock. This could leave them inconvenienced as a result of setting out to make a purchase of an item that’s not actually in stock. The time and other resources that they spend when trying to get the item may be an expense that they would rather avoid. This may leave you prone to getting sued by aggrieved parties, and you will end up paying a fine that will have been an avoidable expense for your business.

You Must Make Accurate Claims

In your advertisements, ensure that you only make valid claims. From your wording to the graphics you use, there shouldn’t be any false claims or implications that have lies in them. For instance, if you’re selling a skin rejuvenation cream, it counts as false advertising if you show a picture of an aged person with wrinkles as the image before using the cream and then use one that’s been touched up or edited in Photoshop as the result of using the cream. This is because buyers will buy your cream expecting that it will have a similar effect on them, something that is most likely impossible to achieve. Almost two-thirds of the world’s population will have access to the internet by 2023, as stated by the Cisco Annual Internet Report. This means that it will be possible to reach a much larger number of people with adverts, making it important to only make honest claims as far as your products are concerned.

Be Honest With Your Pricing

While it’s common knowledge that low prices attract clicks and can get you a lot of attention, it’s important to resist the temptation of using false prices to lure customers to your business. Make sure that you put up an accurate price that won’t mislead the people coming across your website. Given that over 30% of desktop searches and 60% of mobile searches end up without a click, you need to find organic and legitimate ways to keep people’s attention when they come to your website to shop.

The District of Columbia, alongside 19 states, has enacted different versions of the red flag laws. With such serious laws in place that aim to improve the public’s safety, it’s good practice to stay compliant as a business owner. You may soon be able to join a major campaign playing the role of a law-abiding business owner and a good citizen in general.