Do Private Domains Affect SEO Rankings?
Question: Is it true that
Google can access all my whois info? What about private
registration? If I register a domain privately, will it
affect my search engine rankings on Google?
Answer: Yes, Google can - like you, me, or any registrar -
access your whois info to find out who owns a domain name.
But many people creating mininets, feeder sites and
multiple domain strategies, often use semi-fictional
data... like their dog's name, mother in law, etc.
You are supposed to - by law - have authentic info in the
whois record. But many people use pseudo true and a
redirected email address, to save some coin over private
registration.
The other part of your question, no... Google cannot see
who owns a private domain registration. I confirmed this
with a phone call to GoDaddy, the web's leading registrar,
and they assured me of the fact.
But as Jerry West pointed out, in his SEO Revolution
Newsletter, hosting private and public domains on
the same IP address is a bad idea. There are tools -
like DomainTools.com - that let anyone do a Reverse IP
check. A little detective work, will often reveal the
true owner of a domain name.
Does a private domain registration affect rankings? There
is no proof either way that is does. What does affect
rankings on Google, is how long your domain name has been
around.
So if you are creating a new site, register the domain name
for three or four years, and put up a "coming soon" page.
This will start the "aging process" right away.
Then after you upload your first 10 pages of content, link
to your home page, with a couple of PR4 or better pages.
(Use paid directories like Yahoo and Starting Point if you
don't have your own PR4 sites.) The higher the PR of the
pages that link to you, the sooner you'll show up in
Google's search results.
