Cookie banner text?

A cookie banner text in itself does not have to be very complicated. We have seen a lot of cookies text pass by in the past few years. It should be a text that informs about the “presence” and “use” of cookies and trackers on your website.

How you formulate your cookie banner text is up to you as the owner of the website.
There are a few things to keep in mind, though.

That your website uses cookies and other tracking technologies need not be a secret. How you communicate this to your website visitors can make a world of difference. It’s not just about GDPR compliance, but also about respecting the privacy of your website visitors.
It is also about what image you communicate of yourself or organization to the visitors of your website.

What exactly is a cookie banner text?

The cookie text or cookie notice is the actual text, the written content, in the cookie banner that informs visitors to a website about the use of cookies. It is not the cookies themselves that are referred to here, even though cookies are text files or ‘scripts’.

A cookie text is also not the same as a cookie statement or a privacy policy. These are policy statements about an organization’s overall strategy and position on website user privacy.

So it’s about the cookie text in the cookie banner.

Cookie banner text non- compliant

Many cookie banners or notifications do not comply with the GDPR. They do not give the visitor a choice in consent and explain poorly how personal data is processed by the website.

A cookie text should not just inform you that your website places cookies and then only have an “ok” button.

An example of one of our custom cookie banners:

The cookie text in a cookie banner should be clear, honest and to the point.

Cookies text compliant with the GDPR

The GDPR requires website owners that all websites with visitors from the EU:

• Obtain clear and unambiguous consent (or consent) from its users for the placement of cookies and trackers,
• This permission must be given / not given beforehand (until then, do not place cookies),
• For this, you provide a description of the types of cookies you use (preferences, statistical and marketing cookies) and specify them further in the cookie statement.

And then it gets a little trickier.

• visitors should not only be able to give consent, but also to withdraw this consent in an easy to understand way for each category of cookies,
• You need to be able to record the given or modified consent of your website visitor securely and confidentially in a consent log,
• and you submit this choice every twelve months to seek renewed consent.

That’s a mouthful of legal explanation on how you as a website owner should deal with the placement of cookies on your website.

The last 3 bullets is actually where most websites go wrong. And that is not always perceived as pleasant by website visitors 😉

Nevertheless, it is important to understand the role of cookies in relation to privacy.

The “clear and unambiguous prior consent” is done through an opt-in of the different cookie categories (preferences, statistics, marketing). The “specify all types of cookies” can be found in the cookie statement (a comprehensive overview of all known cookies and their purpose).

This is where the importance of a good cookie text comes in. Indeed, this is the point at which you should state the truth regarding marketing and tracking cookies on your website.

Marketers, web administrators and lawyers all have their own perspectives on how to manage the use of cookies and trackers.

Also read about the Interplay between marketer, web administrator and legal in this blog article.

Cookie banner text

The main task of the cookie text is to inform visitors:

• You use cookies and trackers,
• Why do you use them,
• What this means for personal data,
• With whom you share the information,

The cookie text is then actually the most important way to inform visitors about the cookies and trackers you use on your website. Think, for example, of statistics or marketing cookies. These ensure that your website and services are made better and smarter, while at the same time protecting their privacy, giving them a real choice about how their data should be used.

It’s all about balance: making your website visitors understand that you use cookies to optimize the website experience, while ensuring that data and privacy are respected.

Visitors to your website may see it as a warning, but it is not intended to warn or scare the visitors. It’s meant to show them how their privacy is integrated into the functionalities of your website, just as much as the ads and statistics.

Make your cookie text sincere and honest. The more transparent, the better the experience for the website visitor and the more likely they are to consent to multiple cookie categories.

How do you display a cookie text on your website?

For this you can use the Cookiebot solution. An all in 1 cookie solution that automates the management of cookies and consent on your website. By following these three simple steps, your website will have a cookie notice (including your cookie notice text), a cookie statement, consent log and statistics on the opt-in percentages on your cookies.

Also, the Cookiebot solution has a feature that automatically blocks cookies until permission is granted. And that’s really what it’s all about.

After you complete the three steps and enter the text of your cookie banner, it will automatically display when a user lands on your website.

The Cookiebot solution uses 2 Java Scripts to execute and manage permissions from users and their specific choices. They remember the individual choices for one year, after which they ask for renewed consent. This way you won’t spam your visitors with a cookie message that repeatedly asks for permission.

Do you read the cookies text?

We have been experimenting with the text in our cookie banner. Our conclusion is that the tone of the text in the cookie banner does not matter very much. The most important thing is to inform clearly. Below is an example of the current text in our cookie banner:

Does this appeal to you and does it tempt you to accept our cookies? We achieve an opt-in percentage of 95% with it 🙂 . 

Explicit cookie consent

With our latest custom banner designs we provide clear information and the option that a visitor can set which cookies may be placed. For completeness, we also refer to our cookie statement. On that page you can find all information about the cookies that we place. 

Cookies text imformative and tempting

How do you entice your website visitors to accept all your cookies, so that they can make optimal use of the website and you can use the information to better tailor the information to your website visitors?

Don’t make these mistakes when working with a cookie banner.

Cookies now and in the future

There is still a lot to do around the use of cookies on websites. The text in your cookie statement gives you the opportunity to tailor it to your way of communicating with potential customers and current users of your services or products.

What remains important is that cookies are important to fulfill your online objectives. Being transparent in your use of cookies gives confidence and respects the privacy of your website visitor. Entice them to accept your cookies. A good cookie notification text will contribute to this, as will a good cookie banner design.

In addition, there are a lot of developments around the use of third party cookies. Even though these will no longer be used in the future, there are many other ways to collect data about your website visitor. You can read more about working with Google Consent Mode in combination with a Consent Management Platform here. It gives online marketeers an opportunity to work with better data.

Would you like to know more about the use of cookies on your website? Please also read the Cookie Policy Manual. Here we explain how you can get the most out of your cookie policy and how cookies contribute to your online goals. You can request the guide here.

Cookie declaration and privacy policy

What is the difference between the cookie statement and privacy statement? How do you set them up and what do you include in them? You can read more about it in the blog “Privacy statement and cookie statement for your website according to GDPR“.

Do you have questions or additions about the best text for a cookie notification? We would love to hear from you 🙂