Preventing a domain name from expiring

An expired domain is the one hosting incident that can cost you your name permanently. And it almost always happens through inattention.

How it happens

The invoice goes to an email address nobody reads any more, or to a former employee, or to a supplier who no longer exists. The domain expires without anybody noticing.

What happens next

First your site and mail stop. Then comes a recovery period, usually at a cost. After that the name becomes available to everybody again.

What you do

Switch on automatic renewal and check the payment method is still valid — an expired card undoes the automation. Put the contact address on a shared mailbox, never on a person.

Note it yourself

Set a reminder in your own calendar two months before expiry. Do not rely solely on the registrar's warning.

Check who owns it

The name on the registration should be your organisation, not your developer. That determines who can recover the domain.