Do I need a cookie banner on my website?

The rule in one paragraph

The EU ePrivacy rules say you must ask for consent before storing or reading information on a visitor's device, unless it is strictly necessary to provide the service they asked for. Cookies are the best known example, but the same rule covers similar technologies such as tracking pixels, local storage and device fingerprinting. Each EU country has written this into its own law, and regulators interpret details slightly differently, but the core idea is the same across Europe.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Which cookies need consent

Ask yourself one question for each cookie or script: would the site still do what the visitor asked for without it? If yes, it probably needs consent.

Usually need consent

• Analytics tools that track visitors across pages or visits.
• Advertising and retargeting pixels from social networks or ad platforms.
• Embedded videos, maps and social media widgets that set their own cookies.
• Chat widgets and heatmap tools that record behaviour.

Usually strictly necessary, no consent needed

• A cookie that keeps items in a shopping basket.
• A login session cookie for a members area.
• A security cookie that protects a form from abuse.
• A cookie that remembers the visitor's own consent choice.

Strictly necessary cookies still deserve a mention in your privacy notice, but they do not need a banner.

What a valid consent banner must do

If you do use trackers, a banner that only says "by using this site you accept cookies" is not enough. Regulators generally expect the following:

1. Nothing non-essential loads before the visitor agrees.
2. Rejecting is as easy as accepting, ideally with a button of equal weight on the first screen.
3. Choices are specific, so visitors can allow one purpose and refuse another.
4. The visitor can change their mind later.
5. You can show a record of the consent if asked.

Many small businesses install a banner, but their site still loads trackers before anyone clicks. That is a common gap. If you keep a banner, test it: open the site in a private window, refuse everything, and check which third parties still load.

How to need no banner at all

The simplest route to compliance is to not use the things that require consent. For many small business sites, that is a realistic choice.

• Drop third-party analytics if you rarely look at the reports. Ask customers how they found you instead. Your enquiry form can include that question.
• Remove advertising pixels unless you actively run campaigns that depend on them.
• Replace embedded maps and videos with a static image that links to the map or video. The visitor clicks through by choice.
• Link to social profiles instead of embedding feeds.
• Check your fonts. Fonts loaded from an outside provider can send visitor data to that provider. Hosting fonts on your own site avoids that.

A site without trackers loads faster and looks cleaner, which also helps visitors and search engines. Cookies are only one part of data protection, though. If you collect names and emails through a form, read our GDPR checklist for small business websites.

How to audit your current site

1. Open your site in a private browser window.
2. Open the browser's developer tools and look at the storage and network tabs.
3. Note every cookie and every request to another company's domain.
4. For each one, decide: strictly necessary, or remove, or keep with consent.
5. Update your privacy notice to match what is left.

If you are moving to a new site anyway, this is a good moment to start clean. Our guide to moving a website without losing rankings covers the rest of the switch.

A builder with no tracking built in

Sites made with our builder do no visitor tracking, so there is no cookie banner to configure and nothing to keep in sync. They are hosted in the EU and come with a one-button fix that adds privacy and terms pages if they are missing. Every form enquiry still reaches you as a client record with a person assigned, so you know who got in touch without following anyone around the web. You can see how the builder works or check the frequently asked questions.

Frequently asked