When choosing the best web hosting, choosing public or private registration for your new domain can be a bit confusing. Read on to learn what to take into account when making this crucial decision for your company’s internet presence.

Let’s start by understanding the difference between these two. Regulations for domain registration require you to send your personal information such as physical and email addresses, to the registrar in order to become the legal owner of your domain. This information is then registered with WHOIS, a public database of domains and their owners maintained by the ICANN, the international organization in charge of keeping track of who owns what on the internet.

Anyone can look up the registered owner of a publicly registered domain by sending a query to WHOIS. This can lead to potential problems for you and other domain owners, such as:

• Unwanted people knowing you own a domain
• Unwanted visitors showing up on your property
• Becoming a victim of data mining
• Receiving a lot of spam
• Domain hijacking
• Domain slamming

Private domain registration is a service provided by your registrar that allows you to keep your information private when registering a domain. The registrar will then share its own information with WHOIS, acting as a shield to ensure your privacy and avoid the aforementioned issues. Private registration is usually a premium service you can contract for a low yearly fee. It’s affordability has made it one of the most requested additional services of registrars, and the best web hosting services will invariably offer it.

Private domain registration is a great service, but it might not be for everyone. Since WHOIS lists your registrar as the owner, your domain will not technically be owned by you. WHOIS is consulted to resolve any legal disputes related to domain ownership. Therefore, choosing a registrar or web hosting service you can trust is of paramount importance when creating a private registration.

If you own a single website or a few domains, purchasing this service is a no-brainer. However, costs can add up quickly for owners of a large quantity of domains (100+), owned either for flipping or as alternative access to websites. This can be circumvented with some legwork by setting a single or a few privately registered domains to act as proxies for the rest – though this is not implementable in every case.

The decision between public and private domain registration comes down to three fundamental factors. The first one is the security of your personal information. The second is the reliability of your registrar or web hosting provider. The third one is minimizing the possibility of harassment including spamming, stalking, and other situations that might affect you and your family.

Make sure you get the best web hosting services possible. Contact us with any inquiries on the privacy of your information. We offer the best solutions for domain registration and web hosting, and of course, we offer private domain registration services as well. Just select the option at checkout when ordering a domain from GlowHost.com and we’ve got you covered.