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Domain Name Expiration

By Heshy Friedman

It has been a while since making my last blog post. I am going to change the format of this blog to shorter, more informal posts, but will make them more frequently. The idea will be to document personal musings and experiences that I have in the general web design and development world. The shorter posts will allow me to give the proper time and attention as opposed to the longer commitment for the more detailed articles.

Starting with my first “new format” post, I want to talk about domain name expiration. If a domain name that you own was not renewed, and then subsequently expired, it will likely be bought by a domain aggregate holder upon its expiration. Realizing that there is a significant possibility of an already-used domain name to be reused again, the domain aggregate holder capitalizes on this and assesses its resale value.

So if you ever lose a domain name and let its grace time expire, you will almost certainly need to get it back from a domain aggregate company for a premium. The key is not to let the domain name expire. Make sure that your email address and phone numbers are up-to-date with the domain registrar, so that if they try to contact you about its renewal, they are successful. It is also not advisable to register or renew a domain name for more than two years at a time, since your email and phone number may change during a long time period and they will be unable to contact you for renewal.

I have been witness to several of my clients losing their domain names due to neglect or carelessness. Getting the name back cost them a premium to purchase from a domain name aggregate holder, or they were not be able to get it back at all and needed to use a different name. After seeing this happen too many times, I cannot stress the urgency for all website owners to stay on top this.

Stay tuned for our next post on how to check smartly for domain name availability.