The Private Registration Dilemma

When you register a domain name many registrars, including Google, offer the option of a private registration. Private registration means personal information that is collected for registration purposes will not be made available to the public. This information may include full name, address, phone number, e-mail address, etc… Domain and website ownership information is generally made available for public access on databases such as WHOIS, and private registration would prevent this. People generally opt for private registration because they want to protect their personal information from being made available to possible scammers. This makes perfect sense. But are their any drawbacks to private registration?

Many people have purchased domain names simply to sell them. They have no intention of creating a website. So, if they have no website and are interested in potentials buyers they may want to consider a public registration. Another potential drawback is search rankings. Many people believe they are hurt by private registration, but according to Google, this is not true. Googler John Mu, as posted on seoroundtable.com says, '(Private registration) typically doesn’t impact rankings, so you need not worry if you are already implementing it.'

But in the same post, Mu goes on to say that a business may want to their information made available, and makes the following comment,

However, if you’re a business, why would you hide your identifying information? What does that say about your company? What happens if your web site gets hacked and there’s no obvious or working contact form on your site? It’ll be hard to get reached by Google or someone else who stumbles upon your site in that case. Thus, while it’s a hassle at times to have to worry about your identifying information, losing your rankings altogether due to intrusions can be a lot more costly to your business.

It seems to make sense that if you are a business, public registration is a smart option. In addition, if you are hoping to sell your domain and have no website, you also might want your information public. Even if you simply just have a website for non-commercial purposes you may want to give people a way of trying to contact you. Whatever you choose, public or private registration, we hope we have given you a little help with trying to make that decision.