How To Find Who Owns The Domain Name?
Finding information about the owner of the domain name is not as difficult as it sounds. If you want to find who owns a domain name then it is very important to first understand that What is Domain Name? A domain name is a web address which is used to identify the address of the website over the browser.
Who owns a particular domain name? There are many reasons behind asking this question. Maybe you are planning to purchase an expired domain or planning to make a bid on a registered domain. Maybe you want to check some credential information on websites that you like the most. Whatever need you may have, we help you to verify that who owns the domain name? Let’s talk about the Methods to look up a domain owner.
Different Methods to Find Who is the Legal Owner of a Domain Name
If you know the domain name of a website then there are some ways through which you can find domain registration details. One of the most common and easiest ways to find a domain owner is by searching on the WHOIS database. There are several other strategies also to find out the domain name owner.
WHOIS Database
WHOIS database is a free search tool that is publicly available that contains the details of every single website and domain. WHOIS collects all the information related to the purchase, sale, or transfer of domain names. It keeps the records of active websites and domain names.
How does WHOIS Works?
WHOIS is the public database which allows you to search and find the information related to the different domain owner. Anybody can use the WHOIS services to search for the information related to the domain owner.
However, there are chances that for some domains you may not find any data in WHOIS records. Generally, these domain owners have paid the extra amount to protect their privacy details.
How to hide your domain ownership details in the WHOIS database?
If you are a domain owner and want to mask your contact details then you can purchase Domain Privacy Protection. Most of the web hosting offers domain privacy protection at an additional cost. Also, some hosting providers such as Namecheap offers free domain privacy services.
What is Domain Privacy Protection?
It is the safeguard provided by many domain name registrars to the domain owners who wish to mask their details and credential information. The personal information of a domain owner can not be seen by others if the Domain registrant has Domain Privacy Protection.
3 Reasons you might need Domain Privacy Protection:
There are different reasons that you might need/require domain privacy protection. Some of them we have listed below:
- To provide leakage of sensitive information about domain ownership.
- To protect your domain from hackers(as they cannot access your domain details.)
- To protect your domain’s inbox from spammers and tele-callers.
Different WHOIS Database Providers:
There are three different sites by which you can perform the WHOIS lookups:
- ICANN WHOIS
- WHOIS.net
- Domain Tools
1. ICANN WHOIS
The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a nonprofit organization that manages the domain name system over the web. To perform the searches on ICANN WHOIS follow certain steps:
- Go to ICANN WHOIS service
- Type yourdomainname.com in the lookup query field.
- Enter the captcha displayed in the box.
- You will get the WHOIS result.
After the completion of the steps, you will get to know who the registrar is, what is the phone and email of the domain owner, the status of the domain, the date of creation, the date of the last updated, and expiry date of a domain name.
2. WHOIS.net
WHOIS.net is the other site through which you can look up the details of the website owner. Below are the following steps which will help you to look up the details of the domain owner through WHOIS.net:
- Go to ICANN WHOIS service
- Type yourdomainname.com in the lookup query field.
- Enter the captcha displayed in the box.
- You will get the WHOIS result.
Once you have completed the step you will get to know who the registrar is, what is the phone and email, the status of the domain, the date of creation, the date of the last updated, expiry date of the domain name and much more additional information.
3. Domain Tools
Domain Tools is again another tool through which you can look up the details of the domain owner. Here are some of the steps which you have to perform to find who owns the domain name by Domain Tools:
- Go to ICANN WHOIS service
- Type yourdomainname.com in the lookup query field.
- Enter the captcha displayed in the box.
- You will get the WHOIS result.
The results from Domain Tools include all the information mentioned in the above tools plus Additional information like Domain Registration History, Response Code, Server Type, How many links and images, SEO Score, IP Address, location and History, and many more.
Other Methods for Searching the Ownership of a Domain Name
If you have tried the WHOIS database method to find the domain ownership but fails to find the desired information then there many other methods are also available through which you can look up a domain owner.
- Search Google for Domain Name and contact: You can check the domain name by searching for it on Google. If the domain name owner had a public registration record then anyone may have achieved it
- Check the About Us, and Contact Us of the website: You may find the details of the website owner on its Contact us and About us page.
- Social Media: Find social media accounts by using the same name. You may also lookup the domain owner by searching it on social media. Many domain name owners use their domain names as its username.
However, if the owner has registered for domain privacy than it is quite difficult to find the ownership information.
