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Domain names are "places" or locations on the internet. You can think of them in terms of property, and property is always in demand! While you hold that domain location (the lease on that property, so to speak,) no one else can use it.
This makes hosting a website for your business, art, or other endeavor in that space a great idea. It can serve as your store, dealership, art gallery, rental service, etc. The domain remains your space as long as you continue to pay to maintain the registration in yours or your company's name.
When you register a new domain name that has never had a website hosted on it, that domain doesn’t actually hold much value at first. It's what you do with it during the time you hold it and establish your presence that adds to the value.
Over time, as the domain becomes more valuable due to your hard work, what if someone thought they might want to capitalize on that and seek to take it from you? How can you prove it's yours and that they're not entitled?
This is where accurate registration information becomes important.
Best practice is to ensure the registration info matches your government-issued ID or other documentation, such as a business license, so that it can be used if needed to confirm the information in the domain's registration. This is helpful, especially when you can show it historically and consistently!
With this type of verifiable information in your domain registration, if there was ever a question about who was entitled to that particular place on the internet, it would be easy for you to prove your claim.
Some people neglect to use their real information for registration, and their reasons can vary. Since domains can seem a bit more like an ethereal concept to some people, domain owners sometimes don't feel it's important; others may feel it's a privacy issue, and that it's no one's business who is using a domain.
Of course, no lightning will come flying out of the sky and strike you for not using your real info. In all honesty, likely no one would notice until the registry decided to do an audit.
But what if you build up your domain to give it value and someone else decides they wanted to acquire it and take it away from you?
Sadly, that's exactly the hard lesson some of those domain registrants learn when they can't prove their right to a domain they'd been using for years. They were compelled to give them up to competitors or other parties who took them to court.
Don't let this happen to you! Always use accurate information in your domain registration.
You can register a domain under the name of an individual.
You can register a domain under the name of an organization.
If your side hustle isn't a registered business, but you prefer to run it under an assumed name, you can use this in your domain registration, too.
While these can be the same, there's nothing that says they must be.
When adding an email address to a domain registration, ensure this is an address that is active and that you have unimpeded access to.
Always use accurate and verifiable information in your domain registration. Not only does it ensure you can established yourself as the only person entitled to use that domain for as long as you maintain the registration, it helps protect you from scammers and fraudsters seeking to capitalize on your hard work.
Need additional support? Submit a domains ticket here.