What if I Don't Want My Personal Information on the Web?
When you register a domain name, whether or not it's a personal or business site, you're asked to provide personal information. You can either publicly register the domain, which is what most people do, or you can privately register it. A public registration allows for anyone on the web to do a WHOIS search for any domain names you own, and the search results will return your street address, e-mail address, name, and any other information you've entered in. A private registration hides all of that information, but it can have certain drawbacks as well.
What are some of the drawbacks of private registration?
Depending upon what you're using the domain name for, there are different pitfalls. If it's a business website, then it's a drawback because that's one less contact point. If you're just using it for a personal page, though, it obviously protects you from spam e-mails and people harassing you to sell your domain to them. For domain resellers, private registration can put you out of business because others will have a hard time getting in contact with you to buy your domain.
Regardless of the use, private registration could have a negative impact on SEO or get your site blacklisted. Matt Cutts, a Google employee who specializes in search engine optimization issues, stated at PubCon that while privately registering a domain name wouldn't necessarily lower your listing rank on Google, it raises a red flag that you may be a spammer or black-hat SEO practitioner. Combined with other red-flags, you can be labeled as a troublemaker. Also, human-reviewed web directories, such as DMOZ (The Open Directory Project), may be wary of adding you if you're not publicly registered.
So, what can I do to protect myself from spam?
Many people choose to create a proxy entity which acts as a buffer between their personal information and the world. Most likely, a proxy will be a company with its own e-mail address, street address, and phone number where people can contact the original owner, but the owner won't have his or her personal account flooded. If the proxy isn't a real company, that could lead to some problems if there is ever any question as to who owns a domain name. Suppose there was a mix-up at your registrar for a domain you had registered under a fake name or fake company: there is nothing showing that you own the domain except for a credit card, which may or may not be enough!
Setting up a company for a domain name is also a lot of trouble to go through.
Really, a private domain registration isn't going to harm you. Assuming that you're creating a legitimate website with real content, it's not at all likely that you will be flagged as a spammer.
Why would so many major domain registrars offer the option of private domain registration if there wasn't a place for it on the web? Private registration was designed to protect your personal information, so if you don't want any spam, it's a great way to prevent it.
Contact the search engine team
Actually it can be solved by contacting search engine team and explaining about "Why i'm using private domain registration". Your site will not be blacklisted. And about SEO matter, using private or no is not a problem, i think...The SEO is not all about domain but also the content, backlinks, etc...
I am surprised to see that
I am surprised to see that Cutts (and Google) say outright that they may not view your site in the light they should if you have private registration. I've always used private registration when I find domain names I want to register, but never thought it could harm my sites in any way! This is really good to know.
Excellent post! It's actually
Excellent post! It's actually more information than I expected to find. This information is perfect for those who are interested in blog hosting and private registration shouldn't a drawback for all of those who chose to run their own blog.
now i understand
i get it now. this was quite helpful. i had a personal site for my personal email and it has been so inundated with spam. now i understand why. i created a new one that is going to stay private, since thats what its for, private use. but for my business sites, i will link to the heavily spammed one, change the phone and address on that original site to nonessential info and make the new sites a bit more cloaked but not private because the seo factor does concern me. perhaps there is a better option in simply purchasing good spam software?
Seo impact of private whois
Regarding seo factor, you can just post your company name (or project name, personal name), maybe phone number and contact form on your site on contact us page. So you will not be hiding anything. I think having private whois don't have any negative impact on seo. And Matt Cutts confirmed it. It can only hurt your rankings when combined with some obvious black hat methods. In that case with or without private whois, you're in a bad position.
Spam filters are great, but I still haven't found any software that doesn't produce false positives. Sometimes, important emails are labeled as spam. That's why i regularly check my spam inbox. Luckily it is not crowded with spam, I pay close attention to where I publish my email address.
don't do Business with a Company using Private listings
I Will NOT Do any Business with a Company that has a Private registration
it's very simply... if your a business .. I need to check referances with Better Business Bureau (BBB) State licensing agencies, Attorney General's office etc. before I give you my money.. How can I do this.. if your domain is reallygreat-roofing-company and I can't even find out the legal business name of your company - REAL Businesses Microsoft, Cisco Dell.. Apple don't do private listings.. why should you
really simple to avoid spam.. list your corporate (business address, public phone number and the email address of something like domainreg (at) your company that is heavy spam filtered.
the purpose of Whois searches is to find a real human to contact with issues.. (for example SPAM is comming from your domain, or a sync attack )if I find a disconnected phone number.. I contact ICANN and request the domain name be De-activated.(typically this results in the registar contacting the domain owner and asking to comply with ICANN requirments)
I have no problem with private listings for private personal websites but any company offering services to the public should at least have real contact info.
Will it show the IP ?
After doing the private domain registration will it reveals the original IP to outsiders ?
-Kum
I see...
Considering the content of this message, I found it very amusing that the author is:
Anonymous (not verified)
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