Is austinkleon.com legit?

88
/ 100
Trusted
Industry: Personal Blog

This site can generally be trusted. While it lacks some important legal pages, its strong technical infrastructure, long-standing online presence, and good security posture indicate a legitimate and well-maintained website.

Personal Blog average: 77/100 · based on 25 sites

Checked: April 28, 2026 at 10:17 AM UTC

Is austinkleon.com a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 95/100

The site boasts a modern TLS 1.3 encryption, a valid SSL certificate (though from Let's Encrypt which is fine), and is flagged as clean by Google Web Risk, indicating a strong security foundation.

Identity 90/100

With a domain almost 21 years old and a clearly listed registrar, the site establishes a strong and transparent identity, suggesting long-term legitimacy.

Reputation 90/100

The site's inclusion in Tranco's top 1 million and its clean status on DNS blacklists suggest a good reputation and active web presence over a long period.

Transparency 85/100

The presence of clear contact information and social media links enhances transparency, allowing visitors to easily connect with the site's owner.

Compliance 75/100

The absence of important legal pages like a privacy policy or terms of service is a notable compliance concern that should be addressed for user protection and legal standing.

Infrastructure 95/100

Excellent infrastructure is indicated by proper DNS resolution, robust email authentication with SPF and DMARC, custom name servers, and an efficiently loading website supported by a sitemap.

Signals Detected

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Tranco Rank: Rank #105339

This site appears in the top 1 million websites

[+]
Structured Data: Found

Site has structured data markup

[+]
Domain Age: 20 years, 11 months

Domain created 2005-08-25T01:16:44Z (20 years, 11 months ago)

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Registrar: DreamHost, LLC

Registered through DreamHost, LLC

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Domain Expiry: 2026-08-25T01:16:44Z

Expires in 118 days

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DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

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Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[+]
DNS Resolution: 1 IP(s)

Resolves to: 104.199.117.222

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Email (MX Records): 2 record(s)

Mail servers: mx2.sub4.homie.mail.dreamhost.com., mx1.sub4.homie.mail.dreamhost.com.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

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DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

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Name Servers: 2 server(s)

DNS providers: dina.ns.cloudflare.com., duke.ns.cloudflare.com.

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SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 53 days

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Certificate Issuer: Let's Encrypt

Certificate issued by Let's Encrypt

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TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

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Branding: Complete

Site has custom branding and social media metadata

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robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 5 directives and references a sitemap

[?]
Server: nginx

Web server: nginx

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Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

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Sitemap: 7 pages

Site maintains a proper sitemap with 7 indexed pages

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Website Status: Online

Website is live and responding

[+]
Contact Info: Found

Website appears to have contact information

[-]
Legal Pages: Missing

No privacy policy or terms of service found

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Social Media Presence: 5 platforms

Website links to multiple social media platforms

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Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

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DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

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Certificate Transparency: 696 certificates

696 certificates found across 6 subdomains — large or long-established domain

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Page Load Time: 728ms

Fast page load

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When evaluating a personal blog like austinkleon.com, the key is to understand if it's a legitimate platform for its creator. This site clearly passes that test, demonstrating a long-standing online presence stretching back almost 21 years. For an artist and author, a domain age like this is a strong indicator of dedication and stability, contrasting sharply with fly-by-night operations. Most credible personal brands invest in their digital infrastructure, and austinkleon.com is no exception, featuring robust security measures like modern TLS encryption and clean records with Google Web Risk and various DNS blacklists. While it lacks formal privacy policies or terms of service, which would be a red flag for an e-commerce site or a platform collecting extensive user data, for a personal blog, this is often an oversight rather than a deliberate attempt to hide practices. Ultimately, the site's comprehensive branding, active social media links, and fast loading times align with what you'd expect from a well-maintained and transparent online persona. If you're wondering 'is austinkleon.com a scam,' the answer is overwhelmingly no; it’s a trusted and established online hub for Austin Kleon's work.