Create a website imprint: Legally compliant in 5 steps
A faulty or incomplete imprint is more than just a legal detail. It directly blocks your marketing. Campaigns get delayed, landing pages don’t go live, and the legal team has to step in again and again. That costs time, budget, and nerves.
This guide gives you a clear, actionable plan to create a legally compliant imprint for your website and manage it centrally. The goal: remove legal hurdles so your marketing team can move fast and safely.
TL;DR: Your path to a legally compliant imprint
- Problem: A missing imprint slows campaign launches and creates legal risks.
- Action: Create a central, once-verified imprint template.
- Tool: Use your CMS (like JET-CMS) to manage the imprint as a global building block. Changes are automatically applied across all pages.
- Result: Faster approvals, minimized cease-and-desist risks, and more agility for your marketing team.
Problem → Desired Outcome: From blocker to accelerator
The problem: Your team created a brilliant campaign. The landing page is ready. But the launch is delayed by days because legal hasn’t approved it. The reason is often an outdated or incomplete imprint on the website. Such delays are needless roadblocks that cost valuable leads and revenue.
The desired state: Your marketing team publishes campaigns and new content without legal delays. The imprint is no longer a manual checkpoint, but a centrally managed, always up-to-date standard component. This lets your team focus on its core tasks: creating creative and effective campaigns.
A centralized imprint in 5 steps
Follow these steps to create and manage your imprint efficiently. Turn a recurring hurdle into a seamless process.
Gather all mandatory details. Compile all legally required information. This includes the exact company name, address, an email address, the company register number, and the VAT ID number. Use the checklist below.
- Next step: Marketing lead collects all data by the end of the week.
Create a central imprint page. Set up a single, legally reviewed imprint page in your CMS. Write the text clearly and unambiguously. This page will be your "Single Source of Truth".
Implement the imprint as a global component. Use your CMS features to set up the imprint as global content. Systems like JET-CMS enable this via reusable content blocks. This ensures every change is rolled out everywhere automatically and the SEO performance of your website is not affected.
Link the imprint in the footer. Place a clearly visible link to your imprint page in the website footer. This ensures the imprint can be accessed from every single page (including all landing pages) with one click.
Establish a review process. Set a quarterly calendar reminder for your team. Check all details for accuracy. Assign clear responsibility to ensure nothing gets overlooked.
Practical example: Website relaunch without delays
Before: A mid-sized e-commerce company prepared a website relaunch. Each of the 50 new landing pages had a manually inserted imprint. Shortly before go-live, an outdated company address was discovered. The correction took two full working days and delayed the start of the accompanying marketing campaign by 48 hours.
After: Following the incident, the team implemented the imprint as a global component in the CMS. At the next business address update, the change took just 5 minutes. The time savings for the marketing team was 98%. Time-to-publish for new campaigns was significantly shortened.
Checklist: Mandatory details for your imprint (Austria)
Use this template to create or review your imprint. Fill in the placeholders with your company data.
[Full company name as listed in the company register]
[Street and house number]
[Postal code and city]
Austria
Contact:
Tel.: [Your phone number]
Email: [Your email address]
Company register number: [Your company register number]
Commercial court of registration: [Your competent commercial court]
VAT ID number: [Your VAT identification number]
Member of: [e.g., WKO, chamber, professional association]
Trade Regulation Act: www.ris.bka.gv.at
Supervisory authority/trade authority: [e.g., Magistrate of the City of Vienna]
Note: Depending on your industry and legal form, additional information may be required. Find more details in the legal basis on the website of Statistik Austria.
KPIs & measurement: Make success measurable
- Time-to-publish (in hours): Measure the time from completing a landing page to publishing. A central imprint should reduce this by at least 50%. (Tracking: project management tool like Jira or Asana)
- Number of legal review iterations: Count how often content is sent back for revisions due to imprint errors. The goal is to reduce this to zero. (Tracking: internal review log)
- Compliance score (internal): Run a quick quarterly audit. Check 5–10 random pages for a correct and linked imprint. Goal: 100% compliance.
Common mistakes & quick fixes
| Error | Quick fix |
|---|---|
| “Hidden” imprint | Place a clearly labeled link ("Imprint") in your site’s global footer. |
| Outdated data | Set a quarterly calendar reminder for the marketing team to review all details. |
| Missing VAT ID number | Add the VAT ID number as soon as you receive it. This is one of the most common warning reasons. |
| Incorrect company name | Copy the company name 1:1 from the company register excerpt. No marketing names or abbreviations. |
| Email only as contact | Add a phone number. The law requires a quick, direct means of communication. |
FAQ about the imprint on the website
Your questions, our answers. Here we clarify the most common uncertainties around the imprint requirement.
Does every landing page really need its own imprint?
No. However, every page, including landing pages, must link to the central imprint. A footer link is the best solution and ensures this.
Do I have to provide my private phone number?
No. A private number does not belong in the imprint. There must be a quick way to contact you, though. A business phone number builds trust and meets this requirement.
What’s the difference between an imprint and a privacy policy?
The imprint answers: "Who is behind this website?" The privacy policy explains: "What happens to my data?" Both are legally required, but they serve different purposes.
How often should I check the imprint?
Review it quarterly and immediately after major company changes. These include an address change, new management, or a new VAT ID number.
Can you receive a warning for a missing imprint?
Yes, absolutely. A faulty or incomplete imprint is a classic reason for cease-and-desist notices. The resulting costs and effort are easily avoidable.
Always correct – on every page
Reduce cease-and-desist risks and manual effort: JET-CMS makes your imprint the Single Source of Truth.
