Domain Name Renewal Advice

When you buy a domain name, you can choose to register it for any length of time between one and ten years. It’s important to maintain the registration so no one else is able to obtain your domain name should it expire.

Keeping track of your expiration date is important. If you accidentally let your domain name expire, it becomes available for anyone to purchase. Another good reason to renew your domain name for a long time, is that search engines take the length of domain registration into account in search engine rankings.

Domain Name Renewal Best Practices:

• Register your domain name for five or ten years at a time.
• Record all the information you provided to the registrar, your registrar’s name and website (for online renewal), as well as the date of expiration. Keep it in a safe place, such as a safe or safety deposit box, in case you’re incapacitated and others have to run your business.
• Renew your registrations online to be sure you’re doing business with your original registrar.
• Report any suspicious renewal mail to the U.S. Post Office and let them investigate the legitimacy of the content.
• Check your registration or proxy registration at WHOIS directories to locate the name of your registrar if you’ve already forgotten it.

Avoid Domain Name Expirations

If you’ve mistakenly allowed a domain name to expire, you may not be able to  get it back unless you’re willing to buy it back from its new owner. When you register your domain names, flag the date so that you’re sure you’ll renew them in plenty of time, particularly if the renewal date is several years down the road. By renewing early and often you can ensure that your domain name is safe with you.

Learn more about domain registration here.