SiteGround Domain Privacy

Is SiteGround domain privacy worth the price you pay for it?

Here is a detailed review of SiteGround domain privacy protection to help you find an answer to this question.

I tested this service provided by SiteGround to judge the value it provides before posting this review about this addon. I’ll be including some pictures throughout this article to share my experience with you.

I found SiteGround domain privacy protection to be not worth the price you pay for it as an individual. This service seems an extra expense for privacy that the host already provides by default. So, it is not worth paying for, in my opinion.

In the following sections, you will be introduced to the domain privacy offered by SiteGround, its need, how to get it for your domain, and its pricing. Additionally, you will get to know about the TLD extensions available for SiteGround privacy protection and the availability of free domain privacy with the host.

So, let us begin with a brief introduction to the service I’m reviewing here in the next section.

What is domain privacy by SiteGround protection?

The contact information you submit while registering a domain with any registrar is publicly available in the Whois database. The domain privacy by SiteGround protection is meant to prevent your information from going public.

This service from SiteGround, also known as SiteGround Domain ID Protect, hides your contact details like name, address, email, and phone number from the public eye by replacing them with some generic information. It prevents you from spam and identity theft.

Activate Domain Protection

Do I need SiteGround Domain ID Protect? Is it Necessary?

The need for domain privacy protection depends on your unique situation.

It is necessary for you when:

• Privacy is important for your business.
• You want to protect your information from spammers.
• You don’t want your competitors to stalk you.
• You wish to protect yourself from identity theft.
• You want to protect your information from otherwise getting exploited by internet fraudsters.

On the other hand, you do not require domain privacy protection when you live in Europe because of the GDPR rules. One of the SiteGround sales reps on a chat with me revealed that:

Other cases where you do not need domain privacy protection are:

• Your website will benefit from maintaining the transparency of information in the eyes of its clients.
• You are a business organization or a service provider with an official address, phone, and email; and all this business information is publicly available otherwise too.
• You are a celebrity or a social media influencer willing to share your information with the public so that people can contact you for work.

In all of the above cases, the reason behind giving up your privacy is building trust with the people you want to work with.

People wanting to collaborate with you might want to perform a background check to know more about you. And, in such a case, if none of your information is available online or they find out that you are hiding your details purposely, they might get suspicious about your behavior of maintaining secrecy.

How to get your domain privacy protection?

SiteGround allows you to register a new domain or add your existing one when you purchase one of its web hosting plans. Therefore, you cannot buy a domain or domain privacy from SiteGround without a hosting package.

Keeping that in mind, let us look at the steps to get your SiteGround domain privacy protection:

Step 1: Choose a SiteGround hosting plan depending on your website requirements.

Step 2: Select the option “Register a new domain” and add the domain for which you want to purchase privacy protection.

Step 3: On the SiteGround Checkout page, you will find the paid add-ons under the section “Extra Services”. Select “Domain Privacy” here.

Step 4: Read the SiteGround “Terms of Service” and “Privacy Policy” and check the box against them. Also, decide whether you want to check the box for receiving email updates from SiteGround. Then click on “Pay Now” to proceed with the payment and complete the process.

How to add domain ID protection to my domain?

An existing SiteGround customer can also take advantage of the benefits offered by this security feature. If you wish to add domain ID protection to your existing SiteGround account with hosting and a domain, you can do that from your SiteGround dashboard.

Follow these steps and the supporting images:

• Click on the “Services” tab in your dashboard
• Click on “Domains”
• From the “My Domains” list, select the domain for which you wish to purchase domain privacy and click on “Manage”

• The “Manage My Domain” page will list you some options out of which you need to choose “Extras”
• Here you will find the add-on service “Domain Privacy” that can be purchased by clicking on the button “Add”.

• You will then be taken to the payment page to complete the process of adding domain ID protection to an existing domain in SiteGround.

How much is a domain and privacy on siteground?

You can purchase domain privacy at SiteGround for just $1 per month with SiteGround. The host registers your domain for 1 year even if you purchase hosting for a single month initially. So you will be paying $12 upfront to cover the full-year cost of domain privacy.

The renewal price of SiteGround domain privacy is double that of its initial cost. The host charges $2 per month or $24 annually for this add-on service.

SiteGround domain prices

Keep in mind that this cost is over and above the cost that you will be paying for the domain of your choice. The SiteGround domain prices, including the renewal costs, can be seen here:

You must have noticed that the renewal costs of the “Popular domains” and “Country Domains” remain the same while those of “Special Domains” change. This fact is not mentioned anywhere on the SiteGround website but was revealed by a sales rep on a chat:

You cannot renew a domain with SiteGround for less than a year. The host mentions this fact on the “Knowledge Resource” part of its official website:

Also, you will have to pay 25% VAT charges depending on your location. You will notice that the domain prices and the privacy protection cost mentioned on the SiteGround website exclude VAT:

What are the TLD extensions available for privacy protection?

With the availability of so many TLDs with SiteGround, it might become confusing to choose the TLD extensions that are available for privacy protection with the host.

So you must first select a few desired TLDs for your website from the above image and arrange them in order of your preference. Then confirm the availability of privacy service from the guidelines given below for each of the TLD you select.

SiteGround allows you to purchase domain privacy protection for several Top-Level Domain (TLD) extensions:

Popular domains

SiteGround offers domain ID protection with all its popular TLD extensions including .com, .org., .info, and others.

Country domains

SiteGround does not offer privacy protection for most of the country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs). For instance, you won’t find an option to buy this add-on service on the SiteGround Checkout page when adding a .co.uk, .co.nz, .nl, or .in domain to your cart.

Special domains

You will get privacy protection with most of the special TLDs offered by SiteGround including .guru, .xyz, .photos, and others.

In short, there are high chances of the availability of this privacy service with SiteGround if you have selected a TLD from the “Popular domain” or “Special domain” category. On the other hand, you will probably not find the SiteGround domain ID privacy protection feature with the “Country domain” of your choice.

Does SiteGround offer free domain privacy?

Yes, you can get free domain privacy with SiteGround in some cases. After the enforcement of the European Data Protection Regulation, SiteGround offers free domain ID protection to all its customers having a .IT domain.

If you own or have transferred a .IT domain to SiteGround, you can enable this add-on following these simple steps:

• Step 1: Click on the “Services” tab in your SiteGround dashboard.
• Step 2: Click on “Domains” to see the list of all your domains with SiteGround.
• Step 3: Click on “Manage” against the domain for which you want to enable the privacy feature.
• Step 4: You can enable the service free of charge on this page to complete the process.

For an individual, the host hides all the information related to the domain except the registration and expiration date.

However, for a company or other legal entity, the host displays all the information including the email, phone, and address of the domain holder.

Verdict: Is Siteground domain privacy worth it?

No, SiteGround domain privacy is not worth buying even though the service is not that expensive with the host. It is because you will find better alternatives with much better deals for the same service.

For instance, NameSilo offers Whois privacy protection completely free for life. So instead of paying an annual cost for this service with SiteGround, you can just grab it for free with Namesilo!

It is also worth mentioning that the domain registration price is also extremely cheaper at Namesilo when compared to the prices available at SiteGround. So if you are interested in purchasing the hosting services of SiteGround, you can buy your domain from Namesilo and connect it with your desired SiteGround hosting package.

Do you know any other hosts offering free domain privacy protection for life? Let me know in the comment section below and I’ll add them to my recommendation list.

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