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Cookie Banners: Why You Need Them

Become GDPR compliant within a few clicks

We all hate being interrupted – but sometimes, it is necessary. The EU have had the requirement for cookie consent for a long time and it’s becoming an increasingly challenging problem for website owners.

Users dislike the obnoxious popups, website owners are often unaware if they need a banner, and website designers struggle to communicate the need for them.

FCD have always tried to keep running costs of websites as low as possible, especially for static websites where businesses simply upload their complete company brochure. So, requiring an additional monthly fee, even as little as £6/mo, can feel quite large for these people.

Do I need cookie consent, and why?

Yes, especially if you use any tool that requires cookies – usually analytics or a feature on your website that uses personal information.

The EU data laws require them to comply fully with GDPR. You must give your users an opt-in approach to cookies and clarify why they’re used, the service behind them, and what you plan to do with their personal information. However, this can quickly expand into the legal side of website design so we recommend reading some of the articles available online by specialised experts. For example, check out CookieYes’ guide on understanding legal policies.

What’s a simple solution?

From as little as £6/mo, you can purchase a third-party service like these that installs a simple, clean cookie consent banner. Some even offer auto-generating privacy policy and cookie policy pages. These third-party services constantly scan your website and notify you if anything slips through resulting in a non-compliant website.

We’ve hand-picked some consent managers that aren’t annoying to the visitor and offer branding customisation that allow your cookie banner to feel part of your website – not an afterthought. Here’s our recommendations:

  • iubenda – great flexibility and detail, with auto-generating policies.
  • CookieYes – simple to setup and understand, with easy policy generators.
  • Cookiebot – detailed and clear setup process but does not come with a policy generator.

Note – some links above may be affiliate links where we make a small commission on each sale in return for a small discount when you make a purchase.

Can GDPR compliance become automated?

In short, yes.

The Cookie Consent Managers you can purchase do a fantastic job of periodically scanning your website and providing you the tools to ensure full, water-tight compliance with GDPR. Scanners let you know if you’ve become uncompliant and what you need to change but most of the time, it’s an automatic process. This automation also includes updates to your privacy and cookie policies if you’ve chosen those features.


The long story – why you need one

If you track users via Google Analytics or capture data from a contact form, chances are you need a cookie banner. They do more than allow visitors to accept or reject cookies – they provide a level of privacy control to the visitor and give you peace of mind that the user is OK to send their personal information over to you.

On top of this, it shows that you’re serious with their personal information. When installed correctly, these cookie popups provide visitors the detail to understand what cookies are on your site, how they work and why you use them – excellent for the privacy-conscious individual.

The EU law introduced cookie consent a while ago via the GDPR update back in 2018 with other other governing bodies outside the EU following in their tracks. This means that you’ll struggle to find a reason to not include one.

Do they have to be ugly?

No. And they shouldn’t.

The negative impression of cookie popups comes from poor implementations. Many news and media websites have failed to create banners that work properly and often use black-hat design techniques where the reject button is hidden, or they choose to make it difficult to turn off categorised consent toggles.

They should be simple to use and have a similar experience to your website, so your visitors don’t get disoriented. If done correctly, the user won’t care too much that they’re being interrupted. They will thank you for having a correctly designed, easy-to-use banner and a privacy control popup.

What are the benefits other than complying with data laws?

Providing choice to your visitors is heavily praised. Simply providing a clean, easy to use cookie banner and settings manager sets the standard for the experience throughout your website. After all, it’ll be the first thing they’re greeted with as soon as they visit your website for the first time.

  • They provide a way for visitors who are privacy-conscious to opt-out of tracking cookies.
  • User consent can be powerful information for marketing to enrich your campaigns success rate.
  • You appear more professional. A well-designed cookie banner helps you look like you’re taking data protection and personal information privacy seriously.

Should I be worried about any legal complications?

With anything in business, there’s a risk. We feel the small monthly cost of purchasing any of the cookie consent managers available quickly outweighs the legal costs and fines should anything occur.

It is your responsibility as a business owner to make sure your website complies with any law, and we will do our best to guide you where possible so you’re legal, compliant, and up to date with any data law. We’re not legal advisors and if you are worried about the legal side of website design, you can always consult an independent legal company to learn more.

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