In today’s digital age, businesses understand the importance of owning a domain. It’s not just a technical necessity; rather a domain name is vital to establishing a long-lasting brand identity and customer trust. But what happens when you let your domain expire? The consequences can be damaging and costly to your brand. In this article we explore the domain lifecycle and offer tips on how to prevent a domain from expiring.
What is domain expiry?
A domain is considered expired when the registration period ends. Much like signing a lease for a property, when you register a domain, you reserve the legal right to use it as your online address for a specified period. However, if no action is taken to renew your domain licence, you risk losing ownership rights, which will terminate all associated functionalities and services.
Domain expiry lifecycle
When a domain expires, you aren’t immediately denied access to it. It goes through a series of stages before it’s completely lost or available to someone else. The domain expiry process can be divided into three critical phases, as outlined below:
- Renewal grace period
Once expired, most TLDs enter a grace period that typically lasts 30-45 days, starting from the end of the registration period. At this point, the domain is not yet available for others to purchase. The renewal grace period gives businesses the chance to extend their domain registration, usually at the standard renewal rate, depending on the registrar’s policies. - Redemption grace period
If the domain is not renewed during the renewal period, it enters the redemption phase, which lasts an additional 30 days. At this point, some domain registrars mark the website as “pending delete.” While it is still possible to renew your domain during the redemption phase, the process becomes more complicated and expensive, as most registrars charge additional fees on top of the standard renewal rate.
Also, the longer you wait to renew, the greater the chance that someone else may purchase the expiring domain. - Pending delete period
At this point, it becomes technically impossible to reclaim it. However, it’ll be held for a few more days (5-10 days, depending on the registrar) before the domain is released back into the pool of available domains for anyone to register. This marks the final stage of the domain expiry life cycle.
Consequences of letting your domain expire
Allowing a domain to expire can have serious consequences, especially for businesses that rely on their website as a primary point of contact or as a key branding tool. Here are some of the most critical consequences:
- Website and email services go offline
The most immediate consequence of an expired domain is the loss of functionality for all services tied to it. For instance, any connected cloud services, such as email, will stop working. Visitors attempting to access the site will receive error messages, and emails sent to addresses linked to the expired domain will bounce back. This disruption can negatively impact business operations, customer access, and personal communication, potentially damaging the brand’s reputation. - Loss of brand and credibility
Clients and customers may view a website with an expired domain as a sign of poor management or question the legitimacy of the business. - Cybersecurity risks
Competitors and malicious actors can exploit an expired domain to impersonate your brand, redirect traffic to their websites, or even promote harmful content. In some cases, they may use the expired domain to launch phishing scams or other fraudulent activities, which can tarnish your organisation’s reputation and potentially lead to legal challenges. - Impact on search engine rankings and backlinks
Search engines, such as Google, rely on your domain to rank your website in search results. Once a domain expires and the website goes offline, search engines will no longer be able to crawl your website, leading to a rapid drop in rankings.
Additionally, allowing a domain to expire can result in broken links across the web, negatively affecting your site’s SEO authority, traffic, and sales. Reclaiming expired domains can take several months to restore lost rankings, especially when adhering to Google’s ranking policy for expired domains. - Costly reacquisition
If someone else purchases the expired domain, recovering it for your brand can be costly. This often occurs because some registrars auction off expiring domains before they are released into the public pool, making it difficult to reclaim the domain at the reacquisition standard rate. - Legal and intellectual property issues
Many premium domains owned by corporate businesses are legally protected by the trade mark and intellectual property laws of their respective jurisdictions. If a domain expires and is claimed by a third party, it could trigger legal disputes over ownership rights. This may lead to issues such as domain cybersquatting, which may result in delayed legal proceedings or arbitration, as governed by the law.
How to prevent a domain from expiring
Consider implementing the following best practices to ensure your domain does not expire:
- Enable auto-renewal
Most domain registrars offer an auto-renewal option that automatically renews your domain at the end of each registration period. By enabling this feature, your domain will renew without manual intervention, reducing the risk of accidental expiry. However, for auto-renewal to succeed, the payment method must be valid and up to date to avoid billing issues, which could result in a failed renewal. - Set reminders
In addition to enabling auto-renewal, it’s essential to set up additional reminders to notify you when your domain is nearing its expiry date. Consider using a calendar to maintain a manual overview and ensure everything is in order. - Register for a long-term commitment
Many registrars allow a domain to be registered for up to ten years. This long-term commitment eliminates the need for frequent annual renewals, giving businesses greater control over their domains for an extended period. - Use domain management tools
Many domain registrars provide a domain management dashboard that allows you to easily view and track all your domains. These tools help businesses monitor renewal dates, manage payment settings, and receive notifications about upcoming expiries. In some cases, domain registrars also provide additional security measures, such as locking a domain to prevent unauthorised transfers. - Consolidate all your domains
Businesses that own and manage multiple domains across different registrars should consider consolidating them under one provider. This simplifies the process of tracking renewal dates and payment methods, reducing the risk of an expired domain. - Consider a domain management service
Managing domain renewals can be overwhelming for most businesses, especially those with multiple domains. In such cases, consider using a professional domain management service. These services will help monitor your domains, handle renewals, and ensure all associated services continue to function without interruption.
How different countries handle domain expiries
Domain expiry regulations can vary by country, particularly in Europe. Each ccTLD is free to establish its own rules regarding expiry, leading to variation in protocols. In the US, the process is primarily governed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regulations, which provides guidelines for registrars on how to handle domain expiration, recovery, transfer and deletion. Even within the EU, regulations may vary depending on the local registries.The European Registry for Internet Domains (EURid) is appointed by the European Commission to manage and oversee the .eu TLD registry and its variants, including .ею (.eu in Cyrillic) and .ευ (in Greek). The EURid provides guidelines for registrars to directly manage .eu domain names.
Sources:
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#expired-domains
https://manage.whois.com/kb/servlet/KBServlet/faq1080.html
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/the-eu-top-level-domain.html
https://eurid.eu/en/
