Domain names are an incredibly important aspect of any website. Not only do they clearly tell your customers who you are, but they give customers an easy way to find your business online. These reasons alone make it vital to stay on top of domain name renewals for your websites and sort them out as soon as you can to prevent your website from being taken offline.
Luckily, domain renewal is a super easy process that can be done in as little as five minutes. But before we dive into domain renewals, here’s a quick reminder of what a domain name is and why it’s important to have one.
What is a domain name?
Domain names act as easy-to-remember addresses for websites. They’re a unique identifier that makes it simple to find a site. They're kind of similar to how you'd type a home address into a sat nav – instead you type a domain like fasthosts.co.uk into the web browser's address bar.
On a more complex level, a domain name maps a website to a specific IP address. It uses DNS software as a rudimentary translator, allowing you to type in the website URL while being taken to the associated IP address.
So long as you have a simple domain name that represents your brand, your customers will have no trouble finding you. And you'll have a website address personalised to your business.
Why domain names are important
There are many reasons why domain names are important. Besides being a key way for customers to recognise and find your brand, a good domain name helps establish credibility for your business. It makes your business more accessible and builds brand recognition with a personalised address to use with your web hosting.
Another reason why domain names are important is to help people avoid fraudulent content. Typosquatters in particular are notorious for using misspelt domain names to catch customers off guard and potentially poach their personal information.
Purchasing your primary domain name and commonly misspelt variations can go a long way to protecting your domain from typosquatting.
What is domain name renewal?
Domain name renewal is a simple process associated with renewing the ownership of your domain name – just like you'd renew a lease on a car or a flat. When you get a domain name, you essentially buy/rent it from a recognised domain registrar, like Fasthosts.
All domain names are managed by these registrars, who keep track of domain ownership and let owners know when it's time for domain renewals.
When you buy a domain name, there’s a set time limit before it needs renewing, typically a minimum of one year. As it gets closer to the end of this period, your registrar will let you know your domain needs renewing.
But, while a registrar might notify you of the need for domain renewal, you are the one who actually needs to renew it.
Why renew your domain?
Besides the obvious of keeping your domain live for users to browse and purchase from, there are tons of reasons why you should renew your domain:
- It helps maintain your SEO rankings
- Ensures peace of mind so you can focus on other aspects of your business
- It may qualify you for renewal discounts
- It may prevent domain sniping
- Prevents disruption to your emails
- Protects your brand’s reputation and trust.
How to renew a domain name
While it might be scary not to complete the renewal of your website's domain, the process of domain renewal is utterly stress-free.
To renew your domain, all you need to do is get in touch with your domain registrar and follow their renewal process. Most registrars will actually provide instructional steps in their reminder email or in an FAQ on their website, making the process as simple as possible.
Most domain renewal processes follow a similar pattern. As an example, let’s use our own domain name renewal process:
1. Log into the Fasthosts Control Panel
When you receive a reminder for the renewal of your websites' domains, log in and head to the domains section of your Control Panel. You’ll find this by clicking ‘Domain Names’ under ‘Hosting & Domains’.
2. Find your domain
You’ll be taken to a screen listing all of the domains associated with your account. You’ll also see that the expiry dates are clearly listed next to each domain to help you remember when to complete your renewal. Click on the domain you want to renew.
3. Choose renewal terms
Press renew now, and select the length of time you want to renew your domain name from the drop-down menu. This can be up to a max of 10 years based on the current length of time until expiration.
Once you’ve picked your renewal length, click renew, agree to changes, and we’ll send you a confirmation email that the changes have been made.
How to enable auto-renewals
Pretty simple, right? And all of that takes as little as five minutes. Plus, if you enable automatic renewals via your Fasthosts Control Panel, it'll save you even more time – you'll just need to check your domains have renewed.
To check your auto-renewal settings, head to the ‘Domain Names’ section of your Control Panel again and click on the domain you want to manage. You should then be taken to a screen displaying all of your domain information and settings, including the registration date, expiry date, renewal period and auto-renewal settings.
To enable or disable auto-renew, click ‘Change’ and then select ‘On’ or ‘Off’. You may be asked why you want to disable auto-renew or how frequently you want your domain to be auto-renewed.
If you choose not to enable auto-renewals, make sure that your contact details are up to date in your account. Your hosting provider will use the email address provided to contact you when your domain’s expiry date is approaching, so it’s essential that they have the right information to inform you in time.
When can you renew a domain name?
Domain renewal is possible anytime before the expiry date. It’s always a good idea to check with your registrar how far in advance you can renew a domain name, and how long you can renew in advance.
To make sure you don’t miss your domain renewal date, we recommend setting a reminder to alert you to renew your domain at least a month in advance, if not more.
What happens if a domain name isn’t renewed?
Forgetting to renew a domain name will result in losing it. Missing the expiry date means that first, your domain name will be suspended, and then deleted. Then the domain name can be up for grabs for anyone else to buy.
If your domain name is deleted, your site will suffer massively and your users won’t be able to find you. That’s why keeping tabs on your domain renewal date is essential.
Due to the severe consequences of not renewing your domain, many registrars provide grace periods and redemption periods where you can renew a suspended domain before it’s deleted and put back on the market. Here at Fasthosts, there will be a grace period after your domain expires where you can reactivate it at the standard renewal rate. After this 40-day grace period, there will be an additional 30-day redemption period where you can renew your domain at a slightly higher rate (however, please note that redemption periods do not apply to .uk domains). After this, there will be an approximate 5-day window where your domain will be deleted from the registry and become available to other buyers.
How to renew an expired domain
Because of these grace periods and redemption periods, you may be able to keep your domain even if you miss the expiry date. So, if you think you’ve missed your deadline, what do you do?
1. Check domain status
First, if you’re not sure what the status of your domain is, make sure you check your Control Panel and the WHOIS registry information. WHOIS is a public database that houses the information collected when someone registers a domain, such as their contact details, registrar, name servers, expiration dates and domain status.
Log into your Control Panel, find your domain in the domains section, and check the current status of your domain (e.g. active or expired). If you’re unsure whether your domain is still in the redemption period, check the status in the WHOIS information.
If the WHOIS information shows that your domain is in the redemption period, then you can move onto the next step. If the status is ‘Pending Delete - Restorable’, then the same applies – services associated with your domain have been disabled but the domain is still redeemable by the registrar.
However, if your domain’s status is ‘Pending Delete - Scheduled for Release’, the redemption period is over and the 5-day deletion window has begun. At this point, your domain is no longer redeemable.
2. Renew your expired domain as normal (in grace period)
If you’re still able to renew your expired domain, then you can click on ‘renew’. Just like with a non-expired domain, you can choose your renewal terms, such as the length of time you want to renew your domain for. Agree to these changes and check for a confirmation email to make sure your domain name has been renewed. You can also check the new status of your domain to see that it is active.
3. Renew your expired domain with charges (in redemption period)
If you’re still within the initial 40-day grace period, you’ll be able to renew your domain as normal at the standard renewal rate. However, things are a bit more complicated if you’re in the redemption period, as it may not be possible to renew, and even if you can, there may be extra charges to cover the registrar fees, admin and renewal fees. Currently, these charges are £200+ VAT here at Fasthosts.
To redeem a domain under these circumstances and pay the extra fee, you will need to contact our support team or raise a support ticket and confirm you accept the charge.
4. Wait for deletion (alternative option)
If you don’t want to pay this extra charge, another option is to wait for your domain to be deleted and then try to register it again when it comes back on the market. In theory, you could then re-register your domain name at the normal price, but the major risk is that someone else could snap it up before you. After all, domain registration works on a first come, first serve basis – you won’t be given priority if you let your domain fully expire, as you will no longer own it.
We would definitely advise against this option because there’s a significant risk you could lose your domain to someone else, which would put your website, email hosting and business all in jeopardy. Cybersquatters could also potentially get hold of your domain and then try to sell it back to you at a grossly inflated price.
Overall, it’s best to not let your domain expire in the first place, but if you do, remember to renew it during the grace period or pay the extra fees during the redemption period.
How do I revive an expired domain?
If your domain name has expired, you need to contact the registrar or reseller who sold you the domain registration services as soon as possible. Ask them what options they have to renew your domain. The sooner you act the more likely you are to get your domain back without any issues.
To find out which registrar handles your domain, you can do a WHOIS search. This tool gives you the latest registration info for your domain – go to the ICANN WHOIS lookup page and type in your domain name there. You'll see all the details about your domain's registration, such as the current registrar, the status of the domain, and important dates like when the registration will expire.
How to pick a domain name registrar
Choosing the right domain name is crucial for your online business, and since your domain is so important, finding a domain name registrar isn’t a process to take lightly. Always do plenty of research beforehand to find a reputable domain registrar that will offer you a great selection of domains, the best prices, and fair renewal terms. Other things to look for include:
- A wide selection of top-level domains (TLDs)
- The ability to enable auto-renewals
- Flexible registration periods
- Excellent customer service
- Great reviews
- The option of private WHOIS registration
- Additional services like web hosting, email hosting and free domain transfers
To learn more about how to choose the best domain name registrar, check out our guide to domain registrars on the Fasthosts blog.
When it comes to buying and renewing your domain name, it’s important to pick a trustworthy domain registrar. Here at Fasthosts, we’re home to over 1 million domain names and offer you full DNS control and unlimited subdomains for your website – all from just £1 for the first year!
