SEO and Private Domain Registration

Another one of those things that is whispered in corners online… can Private Registration affect search engine ranking?

This is another “who knows” issue, because there is a great deal of controversy, and Google isn’t saying either way.

It is generally accepted that Google looks at Whois information to determine ownership of domains, to influence how they rank interlinked sites, or a bevy of sites that shows up overnight on a single topic, etc.

So, the SEO manipulators said, let’s use PRIVATE registration to cloak the real ownership. Then let’s scatter them across a bunch of webhosts.

Google WOULD try to put a lid on that. Someone suggested recently that Private domain registration could negatively affect SEO – because it is another tactic that has been abused. And as we know, if something is abused, the door gets shut on it. So it is not illogical to assume that it might be a tick against you. Maybe a very tiny one – maybe one that only influences the site if there are other elements where Google has reason to believe that the Private registration is a cloak for excessive interlinking.

Personally, I see no reason for Private registration. It makes my customers uneasy, and doesn’t really help me anyway. There are other ways to get the same advantages – but I’ve always found that transparency is a better enhancement to business than concealment anyway.

I’d not worry about it though, unless you have a large number of sites that you cross link, or unless you are in a business arena that is inhabited by a large number of scammers or internet marketers.