A domain is rented, not bought. It renews every year or every few years, and if nobody pays, it expires. When it does, your website goes offline and every email address on that domain stops receiving mail, often on the same day.
The usual timeline
The exact rules depend on the domain ending and your registrar. In general:
- .au domains (like .com.au): auDA gives the registrant a 30-day grace period after the expiry date to renew. The website and email don't work during that time. If it isn't renewed by the end, the domain is removed and anyone eligible can register it.
- .com and similar: there's usually a grace period when you can renew at the normal price, then a redemption period when renewing costs much more, then the domain is released.
How to get it back
- Find out who the registrant is. Only the registrant, or whoever has the registrar login, can renew it. Look it up on a WHOIS lookup, or check old invoices for the registrar's name.
- Log in and renew. If you have the login, renew straight away and check the card details.
- No login? Contact the registrar. If the domain is in your business's name, they can help you regain access once you prove who you are.
- Registered to someone else? You'll need that person to renew it, or to transfer it to you. This is where a domain in a former designer's name becomes a real problem.
- Already released? If someone else registers it, getting it back can be expensive or impossible. Act on day one.
How to stop it happening
- Make sure the domain is registered to your business.
- Switch on auto-renew, and keep a current business card on file.
- Use a renewal email address that more than one person reads.
- Put the renewal date in your calendar, with a reminder a few weeks before.
Never miss a renewal
Deedbox finds your domain's renewal date from public records and can email you before it, and before every other renewal you add, like hosting and certificates.