How To Turn Website Compliance Into A Key Business Advantage

Compliance as a whole is a complex field that has gained immense importance in recent years. The right use of data is an essential part of it, which unfortunately still receives too little attention from too many companies.

At Ryte, we consider website compliance to be one of the most crucial success factors of the web. Even so important that we've made it one of our product pillars. Just like SEO, Quality Assurance, Web Performance, Sustainability, and Accessibility, we believe website compliance is a critical part of the perfect Website User Experience. 

Why? For a corporate website to deliver business success, companies need to consider the various requirements of their website and pay attention to the demands of different stakeholders. It's all about the total package - and this includes adherence to important compliance regulations.

The latter doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant task at first, but it's worth the effort. If companies give detailed and ongoing attention to their website compliance, it can quickly turn from a dreaded risk into a clear competitive advantage - and here is how.

Avoiding financial losses

When it comes to the question of what website compliance can do for companies, most people think first of avoiding financial loss. And that's just right because while we have long been in a kind of grey area when it comes to data usage, cookies, etc., the legal basis has become much more concrete in recent years.

Legal action is being taken against non-compliance with lawsuits and fines, and not only for internet giants such as Meta, Alphabet & Co. A well-known example is the flood of legal notices concerning Google Fonts, which recently affected numerous small and medium-sized websites and caused quite a stir in the digital industry. It becomes clear that non-compliance with website regulations can lead to considerable financial damage, which can be avoided with the appropriate precautions.

These include regular analyses and the use of intelligent tools. On the Ryte Platform, for example, the Network Requests report or Cookies report can help identify tracking elements used on the website that could unknowingly lead to compliance gaps and fines.

Saving resources

Failures in website compliance not only lead to financial losses but also considerable use of resources. Hence it’s so important to establish smooth workflows that ensure compliance with all regulations, thus minimizing risk from the outset.

Those who establish a clean website set-up and integrate its review and updating into the daily work routine avoid unpleasant surprises and thereby save time and resources that can be used elsewhere towards the success of the company.

What companies often fail at is - simply put - keeping track of what's going on. It's difficult to stay on top of all the possible compliance violations and to ensure that the right information is available to the right people in an understandable, practical way.

Sharing knowledge and insights is critical to successful website compliance management - and to avoiding time-consuming crisis management. Setting up automated website analytics and auditing solutions can help with that. They provide understandable insights to non-experts and enable a seamless flow of information between all stakeholders.

Building trust

Last but not least, we must of course be aware of why and for whom compliance regulations and legal requirements ultimately exist: The consumers or website users.

The crucial keyword in this context is trust. Consumers have become much more attentive in recent years and are increasingly aware of the processing of their data. Today, a positive customer experience must include careful handling of customer data.

Exemplary adherence to website compliance is therefore an absolute prerequisite for meeting customer expectations and presenting a company in a positive light. And of course, this can only succeed if companies use appropriate processes to keep an overview of their website compliance.

Time to act

These are all good reasons for companies to make sure their website is compliant. And the possible negative impact on the business, if they don't, is just too serious to ignore.

These days, all eyes are on compliance in general and data usage in particular, which means now is the time to act. Companies have a responsibility to adhere to important website compliance rules, and not only the law but also customers expect them to do so.