Whois is a widely used public internet record database that contains the details of who owns a domain name, how to get in touch with them, and lots more. Whois tracks domain records and updates them every time someone registers or updates a domain or its DNS settings. A Whois record shows the name and personal contact information of the domain registrant along with other information related to the domain, the registrar, and the location where the website is hosted.
The Whois record is where you look to find out who owns a domain and who is hosting the website. However, it’s also a cause for concern for many domain registrants, as the information in these databases is available to anyone with a free search on a site like who.is.
Whois tracks domain records that are publicly available
There are multiple Whois lookup tools on the Internet. Of course, the best tool for you is the one that meets your requirements.
Different tools have different depths of information that they provide. When we only need a couple of details, any Whois lookup tool can do the job. More extensive information can be found if you choose a lookup tool with a good historical record.
Here is a short list of Whois lookup tools that you can use. Keep in mind that this is public information and it is freely available to view using the listed tools.
Mixed in among all the info returned from your query, there are two significant nuggets of information found in the upper section of the report.
The first is the date that the domain name expires. This is listed on the line titled Registrar Registration Expiration Date, found in the first 10 lines of the report. If this is your domain and you don’t renew the domain by this date it will go through the expiration and deletion process and you can lose the domain. Some investors may want to keep an eye on this report if you are interested in buying this domain when/if it expires.
Secondly, the registrants personal info is listed unless they have Whois privacy on. This may include name, address, telephone number and even their email address.
Every holder of a domain is required to provide accurate and updated contact information. Failure to maintain this information accurately in Whois can lead to the suspension of the domain name.
Read all of your whois report for more details. This is an example report from Whois.com:
Raw Whois Data Domain Name: onsitevalue.com Registry Domain ID: 2736652867_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.gandi.net Registrar URL: http://www.gandi.net Updated Date: 2022-11-05T15:04:12Z Creation Date: 2022-11-05T14:04:09Z Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2023-11-05T15:04:09Z Registrar: GANDI SAS Registrar IANA ID: 81 Registrar Abuse Contact Email: email@support.gandi.net Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +33.170377661 Reseller: hostingconcepts Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited Domain Status: Domain Status: Domain Status: Domain Status: Registry Registrant ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Organization: Registrant Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant City: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant State/Province: Registrant Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Country: NL Registrant Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Phone Ext: Registrant Fax: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Fax Ext: Registrant Email: email@contact.gandi.net Registry Admin ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Organization: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin City: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin State/Province: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Country: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Phone Ext: Admin Fax: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Fax Ext: Admin Email: email@contact.gandi.net Registry Tech ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Organization: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech City: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech State/Province: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Country: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Phone Ext: Tech Fax: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Fax Ext: Tech Email: email@contact.gandi.net Name Server: NS1.DNS-PARKING.COM Name Server: NS2.DNS-PARKING.COM Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: DNSSEC: Unsigned URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/ >>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2022-11-12T22:17:08Z <<< For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://www.icann.org/epp Reseller Email: Reseller URL: Personal data access and use are governed by French law, any use for the purpose of unsolicited mass commercial advertising as well as any mass or automated inquiries (for any intent other than the registration or modification of a domain name) are strictly forbidden. Copy of whole or part of our database without Gandi's endorsement is strictly forbidden. A dispute over the ownership of a domain name may be subject to the alternate procedure established by the Registry in question or brought before the courts. For additional information, please contact us via the following form: https://www.gandi.net/support/contacter/mail/
Just a quick heads up! Check out my post on generating traffic with keyword domain names here: Using keyword domain names to generate traffic