Keeping WHOIS information private
Submitted by kuproverto on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 18:57.
What are your views on keeping WHOIS information private? Before I had a business address separate from my home address, I used Domains by Proxy to obfuscate my contact details. I've heard some people say they'd have more trust in a company which doesn't try to hide it's information. However, I really don't think 'ordinary surfers' know much, if anything, about WHOIS so wouldn't perform a lookup anyway.
Agreed
Agreed.
A majority of your web surfers have no idea what whois is (no pun intended).
Keeping whois info private is a must to protect your privacy and your intellectual "web" property.
Dan
Exactly
"Keeping whois info private is a must to protect your privacy and your intellectual "web" property."
..and, as it costs less than $10 per year, why wouldn't you do it?
There's been discussion that
There's been discussion that Google looks down upon "anonymous" domain registrations. In fact, a patent application was leaked a few years back that revealed Google may weigh this as a ranking factor.
The theory goes like this... If you're a real website, owned by a real company, you want to establish credibility. It's well known that publishing real addresses, phone numbers, etc. on your website builds trust with the consumer.
I agree with your point that consumers will never check the WHOIS database to verify your contact information, but Google does. Right or wrong - it causes their algorithm to question what you might be hiding behind your anonymous contact info.
Now let me play devil's advocate ;) If you leave your real contact info in the WHOIS database you will get more spam - it's a honey pot for bad robots. In addition to spam, your competitors will be able to find you easier.
You have to weigh the pros and cons before you decide to go anonymous. I typically go anonymous on domains used exclusively for PPC. I use real contact info on sites I want to perform well in natural search (like QYDJ).
Keeping WHOIS information private
Hi Jeremy,
Your points are well taken.
The other advantage of keeping the WHOIS info public is that if someone is seriously interested in contacting you to do business or buy your site or domain, it is much easier for them to get in contact with you.
A few years ago, I was able to sell a domain to a major corporation because they were able to easily get in contact with me.
About a month ago I put up an affiliate site with a "relevant" domain name. Within a week I received a substantial offer to sell that domain.
Maybe just listing everything under a business name is the answer.
With kind regards,
Bill
Great idea.
I like the idea of using private whois for the ppc domains and using actual contact info for your main business site. Makes perfect sense. I bet affiliate managers also check whois records if they don't have an automatic acceptance policy. Seems better to have an actual address, even if it's at the local UPS mailbox store, to give your business credibility.
How long to register domain
On a related note, I've heard Google looks more favorably upon domains which are registered for more than a year. Do people here find that to be the case?
Gigglesoup
I've heard/read this too.
I've heard/read this too. Apparently Google filed a patent application a few years back that mentioned this as a ranking factor. The logic goes something like this... "if you're a real business that plans on being around for a while, you'll probably register your domains for a few years to ensure you don't lose it".
True but not true.
Even though you have registered a domain for 5 or 10 years, it doesn't mean you intend to keep it that long. I know what Google is getting at, and I support it, but if it was that important, those who intend to spam the SEs would just register their domains for longer.
Still, I think it's wise for any serious business to register for as long as they can afford. I intend to increase my registration period from 1 year to 5 from now on.