In this guide, we explain what should be included in a cookie policy for your website.
- What is a cookie policy and when do you need one?
- What should be included in a cookie policy?
- How to create a page for your cookie policy in Website Builder?
- Are you running a Google Ads campaign?
Note: This guide is only for informational purposes. If you want to be sure that your policy fulfills all legal requirements, we recommend that you consult a lawyer or legal adviser.
What is a cookie policy and when do you need one?
A cookie policy informs visitors on your site about the fact that you use cookies. It should be written in a way that is easy to understand and not contain a lot of complicated legal terms.
The purpose of the cookie policy is to explain the consequences of allowing or disallowing cookies so that visitors can make an informed decision about whether they want this or not.
If your website is using cookies, you need to inform your visitors about this in a cookie policy.
Note: Are you running a Google Ads campaign? Then you can add a tracking code to your Website Builder site, which means you need a cookie policy.
What should be included in a cookie policy?
A cookie policy should address the following three things:
Tip: You can also use a generator to help you write your cookie policy. Make sure to modify it afterwards to meet your own needs.
What are cookies?
You need to begin your policy with a short explanation of what cookies are, so that your visitors can make an informed decision.
Example:
Cookies are small text files that are stored in your browser by websites that you visit. They usually contain a website and an identifier. Cookies help improve your experience while browsing on our website, for example by remembering what items you put in your basket.
How and why do you use cookies?
Next, you need to explain how you use cookies on your site and for what purpose. You don't need to list all cookies by name, but you need to be clear about their purpose.
If you use third-party cookies, like for example Google Analytics, then you need to mention this separately and you need to be clear about the purpose.
Example:
We use cookies to improve your browser experience, by remembering that you have logged in. If you fill out a contact form we use cookies to remember your details for a next time.
Third-party cookies
We use third-party cookies to track how you use our website, for example, what pages you visit and how long you spend on them. This helps us get a better understanding of how people are using our site and how they access it, which helps us create better campaigns.
How to disable cookies
Finally, you need to explain how to disable cookies in the browser, or how to opt-out. You can link to helpful resources that explain how to do this.
Example:
You can prevent cookies from being placed in your browser settings, though this may affect the functionality of websites that you visit. Cookies on our website are not essential, but may improve your experience.
If you want to delete cookies in your browser, check this guide: How do I delete cookies?
How to create a page for your cookie policy in Website Builder?
It's easy to create a page for your cookie policy in Website Builder, just remember not to make it part of your menu. The following guides may be useful:
Don't have access to Website Builder? You can try it out for free for 14 days and create a website in no time. Start your free trial now
Are you running a Google Ads campaign?
If you have signed up for Google Ads through the one.com control panel, we recommend that you add a tracking code to your Website Builder site to improve the effectiveness of your ads. You can easily do this inside Website Builder, under Settings. Check our guide for step-by-step instructions: How do I add the Google Ads tracking code to my Website Builder site?
Adding the tracking code, means you need to add a cookie banner with a link to your cookie policy. The Google Ads product we offer is powered by Sitewit.
Example:
We use tracking cookies on our website to help improve our advertising campaigns. We may track how you have entered our site, what ads you click and what pages you visit.
With the tracking code from Google Ads, you get the following cookies:
Sitewit.com
- _swa_u - Used for stats report and analytics - Strictly Necessary - Duration: 999 days (or based on settings at setup)
- _swa_su#### (where #### is your master account) - Only created when set_site_unique_id is called - Duration: 1000 days or 0 if cookie is in sessionOnly mode
Doubleclick.net
- IDE - Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report the website user's actions after viewing or clicking one of the advertiser's ads with the purpose of measuring the efficacy of an ad and to present targeted ads to the user - Marketing/Analytics (Necessary to get stats for the campaigns) - Duration: 2 years
analytics.sitewit.com
- ASP.NET_SessionId - Preserves the visitor's session state across page requests - Strictly Necessary - Duration: Browsing session
- AWSELB - Used to distribute traffic to the website on several servers in order to optimise response times - Strictly Necessary - Duration: Browsing session
connect.sitewit.com (only if this product is enabled)
- ASP.NET_SessionId - Preserves the visitor's session state across page requests - Strictly Necessary - Duration: Browsing session
- AWSELB - Used to distribute traffic to the website on several servers in order to optimise response times - Strictly Necessary - Duration: Browsing session
Don't have access to Website Builder? You can try it out for free for 14 days and create a website in no time. Start your free trial now
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