As an online business owner with a website, your domain name is an important asset and should not be allowed to expire.
In this guide, I will share with you why you should not allow your domain name to expire and what will happen when it does.
Your domain name is an important asset because that is what website visitors will use to come to your website. It is the address to locate you on the internet.
Before your domain name expires, your domain registrar will send you a series of emails reminding you of the renewal date, but most times, if you use an email that you do not regularly check, which you shouldn’t.
You might miss the renewal reminder emails and your domain name will expire.
Depending on the domain registrar you are using, the email can come in 30 days, 15 days, 7 days intervals, and sometimes 24hrs before the final day.
24hrs domain expiry
Before we get to forward, let us define who a domain registrar is; A domain registrar is a company that manages the registration of domain names through a body called ICAAN.
Some of them are Namecheap, Bluehost, Godaddy, etc. They also handle website hosting services. Domain names are registered yearly depending on how many years you can afford to register.
So what happens when you miss any of the emails and your domain expires.
I will be using what happens with Namecheap registered domains to explain. I am using Namecheap because that is where I purchase both my domains and my client’s domain and their service is very good.
Your website will be inaccessible
Immediately after your domain name expires, your website will no longer be accessible to the public on the internet. As a serious online business owner, you must not allow this to happen.
Imagine you have products or services that people need to purchase or they need to make a booking on your website. They will not be able to do that because your website is inaccessible.
Your domain will enter a ‘Grace Period’
What this means is that your domain will be in a state where it can be renewed and restored back at no extra cost. Depending on the domain registrar, the number of days for the Grace Period can vary. And your domain will still remain on your dashboard.
Grace Period domain- Image Credit: Namecheap
It will be Labeled Expired
If after the Grace Period, you didn’t still renew the domain, the domain will be in a state where you can still renew. At this stage, the domain will still remain on your dashboard. And you can reactivate it from your account.
Expired domain- Image Credit: Namecheap
It will enter a Redemption Grace Period:
If after the Grace Period, you didn’t still renew the domain, it will be in a state where you can still renew it but now at a cost higher than the normal renewal fee. At this stage, it will be removed from your dashboard.
This Redemption Period can vary between 30days to 60days depending on the domain registrar. And you will need to contact the support to reactivate your domain.
Your Domain will enter Auction
This is a stage you should avoid at all costs because when this happens, your domain will be made available for purchase in the public market, and even when you are able to purchase it back, all the domain authority ranking you have acquired for the period you have had it will be lost and it will start counting as if you just started using the domain name at that time.
Domain Authority is a search engine ranking score that gives a measure of how successful a site is when it comes to search engine results.
How to Avoid Losing your Domain Name
With all that we have shared above, you can see that it is very important that you do everything possible to avoid letting your domain name expire. Some of the things you can do include:
Register your domain name beyond 1yr if you can
If you have the resources, you can go as far as 5 or even 10 years so you won’t be bothered about domain expiry issues.
Use your most active email
Ensure you use your most active email as your notification email for getting updates from your domain registrar. So that once you get notified, you can take action immediately.
Engage the services of a website designer or developer
A website designer or webmaster can handle the maintenance of your website and monitor the activities of your domain and take action when necessary.
Finally, if you are handling it yourself, ensure you renew the domain immediately after your domain registrar notifies you about the expiry that way your website will remain active and you won’t lose your website visitors.
If you need help regarding website maintenance or design. Feel free to contact me here. Have questions and comments, feel free to use the comment box below.
Okey Chigbu is a tech solutions expert. He helps business owners and personal brands grow and scale their brands using digital tools and solutions. He loves sharing valuable resources with his audience.
