How to Renew Your Domain
The specific steps to renew your domain will vary depending on your domain registrar, but in general, you’ll look for a system setting in the account you used to register your domain. Understanding how to renew your domain is crucial step for building customers’ trust in your brand’s reliability.
Top Benefits of Automatic Domain Renewal
Automatic domain renewal allows your domain name to renew every year without any need to take action. Most businesses prefer automatic domain renewal, which comes with multiple benefits.
Peace of mind. Small business owners, you already have so many tasks that need your attention. Automatic domain renewal means you’ll have one less deadline to worry about missing.
Customer trust. Keeping your domain active means the services hosted via your domain, like your website and your business email, also stay active. Customers trust brands that provide reliable, consistent experiences, so this simple maintenance task positively contributes to your brand reputation.
Brand image. Automatically renewing your domain means that you maintain control of how that domain name affects your brand image. While it’s registered to you, it can’t be used by competitors or other parties for uses that might damage your brand.
Risks of Manually Renewing Your Domain
While many people prefer automatic domain renewal, you can always choose to renew manually instead. Just be aware of the risks associated with manual renewal.
Domain expiration. If you miss your renewal date and any grace period that follows, your domain expires. The website and any business email addresses associated with that domain deactivate, and become inaccessible to the public.
Redemption fees. Domain registry operators charge registrars additional fees to redeem a domain name that’s expired. These typically get passed along as redemption fees to individuals, which can add hundreds of dollars to your renewal cost.
SEO impacts. Not only can domains expire—they get resold. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get your domain back if it goes to aftermarket auctions. All the work you put into establishing domain authority, page authority, and backlinks will go with that domain, which means starting all over.
Domain flipping. Domain flippers love opportunities to acquire high-value domains at rock-bottom prices, which can happen if a domain expiration goes unnoticed by the registrant. This practice of domain drop catching, or domain sniping, may mean that you’ll pay more than just a redemption fee to reclaim your domain name.
Automatic Domain Renewal with Registered Agents Inc
When you register a domain with us, you’re set up with automatic domain renewal. We’ll use your saved payment method to renew your domain each year ahead of the anniversary of your original purchase for the stated renewal amount.
If the automatic renewal doesn’t work, don’t worry. We’ll reach out to you with plenty of time to renew manually.
Turning off automatic domain renewal
You can disable your auto-payment method in your client account if you’d prefer to renew manually and accept the risks of doing so. Follow these steps:
- From your client account, select your Services tab.
- In the row containing the domain name service you’d like to manage manually, select the button with your current payment method in the Autopay column.
- From the Manage Autopay screen, ensure your Business Domain is the selected service, then select the bubble to “Stop Autopay.”
- Select the “Save” icon in the upper right hand corner to save your changes.
Understanding your domain’s life cycle
If you choose to manage your domain manually, we want you to have all the information you need to be successful. Familiarity with the life cycle of a domain can help you determine next steps for your business and avoid of the consequences of unexpected domain expiration.
Domain names have five possible statuses:
Available
This domain name can be registered by anyone as long as they meet any eligibility criteria as required by the top-level domain. Different domain extensions have different rules. When you search for a domain name with us, the list of available domain names is pulled from domain names in this status.
Registered
The domain name has been registered by someone. Because domain names must be unique across the entire internet, no one else can use this domain name during its actively registered period of between one and ten years. Renewals extend this registration period.
Expired
All domain names eventually expire, which can be bad news for business if it happens unintentionally. Registered Agents Inc will reach out through a series of emails and other communications to help our clients avoid accidental domain expiration. We also understand that life happens—so we offer a brief grace period during which you can renew an expired domain for no additional charge.
Redemption grace period
Once a registrar indicates to a registry operator that a domain name will not be renewed, the domain registry holds the domain for thirty days. During this time, websites hosted at the domain display the dreaded “this site can’t be reached” error, and business emails become inaccessible. This is the last opportunity an owner has to maintain control of their domain name, which can be reclaimed for their renewal cost plus a redemption fee.
Pending delete
It is not possible to renew or redeem a domain name that has entered this status short of a court order. Five days after a domain name has entered this status, it will be dropped from the registry database. After this, it re-enters the domain life cycle as available to register.
Once you’ve registered a domain, you can renew it from all but the pending delete status as long as the domain has not already been resold. Automatic renewal means you’ll never have to worry about accidental domain expiration, aftermarket sales, and redemption fees. However, all is not lost if you miss the expiration deadline. Reach out to our experts and we’ll get it sorted.
Key Takeaways
Understanding domain name renewal is an important step in building customer trust and demonstrating your brand’s reliability. With Registered Agents Inc, clients experience the benefits of automatic domain renewal, like peace of mind and consistency of service for your customers, while maintaining the control to run your business as you see fit.
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