Website Legal Requirements for Beauty & Wellness Businesses (2026)

Your website might be beautiful. Your branding may be on point. Your photos may be stunning. And your experience may feel elevated.

But if your beauty or wellness website is missing a few key legal essentials, it could cost you more than a lost booking...more like costing you thousands in fines, a lawsuit, or serious business headaches you didn’t see coming.

Website legal requirements aren’t just for big corporations or tech companies. If you’re an esthetician, hair stylist, lash artist, nail tech, injector, med spa owner (and your website collects any information online) you’re responsible for having a legally compliant website.

Unfortunately, legal requirements often get overlooked during a website project, especially when business owners don’t know what responsibilities fall on them versus their website designer.

But the good news is, you don’t need to be a lawyer to get this right.

This guide walks you through the essential legal requirements your beauty or wellness website needs in 2026, in plain English, so you can protect your business, build trust with clients, and exist online confidently.

Why Website Legal Compliance Matters

Website compliance isn’t about being overly cautious, it’s about protecting what you’ve built.

For beauty and wellness businesses, legal compliance helps you:

• Reduce the risk of lawsuits or fines
• Protect yourself from client disputes or chargebacks
• Build trust before someone ever books an appointment
• Meet online business legal requirements tied to health, personal data, and services

If your business offers hands-on services, collects personal information (including the use of contact forms, booking systems, email signups, payments, and third-party tools), or accepts online payments, your website carries real legal responsibility, whether you’re a solo provider or a multi-location practice.

The Website Legal Compliance Checklist (2026 Edition)

Below are the non-negotiables every service-based website should have. Each section stands on its own so you can audit your site piece by piece.

1. Privacy Policy

A privacy policy is legally required if your website collects any personal data.

This includes:

• Contact forms
• Email list signups
• Online booking systems
• Analytics tools (like Google Analytics)
• Embedded tools (Instagram, scheduling apps, payment processors)

Your privacy policy should clearly explain:

• What data you collect
• How that data is used
• Who it’s shared with (third-party tools)
• How users can request access or deletion

With laws like GDPR and CCPA still in effect (and expanding), privacy policy requirements are not optional, even for small businesses.

2. Website Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions protect you.

They help set expectations and reduce disputes around:

• Payments and deposits
• Cancellations, reschedules, or no-shows
• Refund policies
• Liability limitations
• Use of your content and services

For service-based businesses, this is especially important if clients can:

• Book appointments online
• Purchase services or products
• Engage with educational content

A clear website terms and conditions page acts like a digital contract, even if clients never read every word.

3. ADA Website Compliance

ADA website compliance is one of the most overlooked, and most important, areas of legal compliance.

Accessibility matters because:

• It’s required under the Americans with Disabilities Act
• It protects you from accessibility-related lawsuits
• It ensures your website can be used by everyone

Basic accessibility best practices include:

• Alt text on images
• Sufficient color contrast
• Readable font sizes
• Clear navigation
• Proper heading structure

Don't think of accessibility as just a legal box to check, it’s part of creating a professional inclusive website. In fact, accessibility lawsuits disproportionately affect service-based websites who have booking functionality, which makes this especially important for salons, studios, and practices.

4. Cookie Consent & GDPR Compliance

If your website uses cookies (most do), you may need a cookie consent banner.

Cookies are used for:

• Analytics
• Marketing tracking
• Embedded tools
• Personalization

GDPR compliance for small businesses requires transparency around cookie usage and, in some cases, explicit consent before tracking begins.

A compliant cookie consent banner should:

• Clearly explain what cookies are used for
• Allow users to accept or manage preferences
• Not hide information behind confusing language

5. FTC Disclosure Requirements

If you:

• Use affiliate links
• Promote sponsored products
• Recommend tools you earn commission from

You are legally required to disclose that relationship. This protects you and maintains trust with your audience.

FTC disclosure requirements apply to:

• Blog posts
• Resource pages
• Product recommendations
• Embedded affiliate links

Disclosures should be:

• Clear
• Easy to understand
• Placed near the content (not hidden in the footer)

Common Website Legal Mistakes to Avoid

Even well-meaning business owners make these mistakes:

• Copying legal pages from another business
• Using outdated policy templates that don’t reflect your current services
• Forgetting to update policies when you add new treatments, services, or tools
• Writing policies in legal jargon clients can’t understand
• Assuming your booking platform handles compliance for you
• Writing policies that clients can’t actually understand

Your Website Compliance Next Steps

If this feels overwhelming, start here:

• Step 1: Use the checklist inside this blog post to audit your website for missing or outdated legal pages
• Step 2: Use lawyer-approved templates or work with a legal professional
• Step 3: Set a yearly reminder to review and update your policies

And if you want a second set of expert eyes? That’s where a website audit comes in.

Final Thoughts: Protection Is Part of Professionalism

Your website should do more than look good.

It should:

• Support your business goals
• Build trust with clients
• Protect you behind the scenes

Legal compliance doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional.

Whether you’re refreshing your site or planning a full redesign, legal pages should be reviewed and updated as part of the process, not treated as an afterthought.

If you’re a beauty or wellness business owner and want a second set of expert eyes on your website, a Polished Pages audit can help identify both design and compliance gaps.

Your website should work for you, keeping you legally covered while it does. Let’s make sure it’s polished and protected.