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WHOIS Scare On Legit Sites

by momoneyman
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
So when I first started out making sites I made a namecheap account that hosts majority of my domains using real whois info and privacy protection.

However, I also made another registrar account with godaddy for the .99 .coms. For this all the domains are using fake whois info.

Well, one of the sites on my godaddy account is ranking well in google and earning me about 3k per month. Atm its my biggest earner.

Its coming time to renew the domain and I am a tad worried about my biggest earner being registered with all fake info.

I've heard a lot of horror stories with godaddy and domain seizing for no reason and how if your whois info is fake you can lose the domain.

Basically I am wondering if this is a real risk? And if I should be changing the whois info to my real details; possibly adding privacy protection; or possibly transfering it over to namecheap?

I'm inclined to believe drastic whois info changes probably wouldnt affect seo ranking, but you can never be sure, as it will look like an entirely different person owns it now.

I've learned to not mess with things that are working, but I feel I may be at risk of godaddy wrath if I sit on my hands much longer....
#legit #scare #sites #whois
  • Profile picture of the author MJG
    There is a belief out there that there is a time lapse between registered WHOIS info and the privacy protection going out there. To elaborate, you could register your information and add privacy protection at the time to registering a domain name but certain searches may show websites that have already got your WHOIS because of the delay in the protection kicking in.

    There is no right advice on this. Some will say if it ain't broke don't fix it so keep things as they are. Some will be choose what you perceive to be the least risky option...whatever you think that may be. It may be a bigger risk to change your WHOIS details now than Godaddy requesting your documents to prove you own the domain name. But yes Godaddy has done this in the past...often because of a direct complaint from someone about your domain name.

    The fact is you've taken a risk, you are obviously aware of the risks and you need to make the decision. Your title says legit sites but if you're bringing in $3k per month from that one site then it's surely time to register a company if you haven't already done so and put the company details in the WHOIS? But again this would mean a transfer of ownership and like you said Google may adjust things accordingly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
    Why don't you just push the domain over to you "real person".
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

      Why don't you just push the domain over to you "real person".
      whois and registrar details have people running scared. Most annoying thing about building PBNs for people now is they all have heard some nonsense about SEO and whois.

      OP if you are that paranoid do it in stages, change the name to your name and leave the address the same. Names of people in charge change all the time in the same business
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
    If WHOIS information changes were affecting Google rankings, sites relying on traffic from Google wouldn't sell anymore on Flippa and other website marketplaces. Change the whois details to your real details and stop being paranoid.
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    ONE HOUR INDEXING - STOP WASTING MONEY ON LINKS GOOGLE NEVER FINDS
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by SEO Power View Post

      If WHOIS information changes were affecting Google rankings, sites relying on traffic from Google wouldn't sell anymore on Flippa and other website marketplaces. Change the whois details to your real details and stop being paranoid.
      That is not what he is worried about.

      He is worried about the registrar finding out he used fake information and seizing the domain for breaking ICANN rules.
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      • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        That is not what he is worried about.

        He is worried about the registrar finding out he used fake information and seizing the domain for breaking ICANN rules.
        He also mentioned SEO in his post above. My post addresses the SEO part of his post.

        @momoneyman I've done the same thing you want to do and nothing happened. Godaddy will do absolutely nothing if you change your whois details. There's nothing to be worried about.
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        ONE HOUR INDEXING - STOP WASTING MONEY ON LINKS GOOGLE NEVER FINDS
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        • Profile picture of the author IMCapitalist
          we had similar situation last year and my friend advised me roughly the same, so we did it, change the whois into the real entity and let things going where the waves brings..so far, no problem encountered tho.
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          • Profile picture of the author nik0
            Banned
            Just obtain your authorization/EPP code and either transfer it to a new registrar or push it to your other account inside GoDaddy, problem fixed.

            I'd go for Namecheap as they offer free whois protection, GoDaddy always tries to rip you off one way or the other.
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  • Profile picture of the author Advertising
    I also think you have nothing to worry about by just changing the details. I would just do it.

    I cannot imagine GoDaddy doing anything that crazy. And if they did, it would make for a good lawsuit and bad publicity for them.
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