19 Apr 09 Domain names are not for life

When you register domain names (and I do this frequently) I rarely remember to check the button which says “autorenew” – so that means I have to renew them anually through the registrar’s control panel. Now that I’ve got a lot of domains, this means I log in and renew a domain at least once a week. However, I came across a discussion on the WarriorForum about domain name renewals which reinforced something I already knew. A domain name is not for life – just for the term you initially purchase.

What lessons have I learned:

Renew domain names automatically – especially those that are essential to my business
If I want to move domains from one registrar to another, then I can’t do it 60 days either side of the domain’s renewal date – effectively this means a window of only 8 months when I can safely move a domain to a different registrar
It costs a lot more to get a domain back from a registrar if you allow it to lapse more than the redemption period – and, in some cases, someone else might snap it up immediately after it becomes available. This is legitimate business – because your tenure of the domain name only lasts as long as you have paid for it. There is a whole industry of people (like me!) buying up expired domain names.

I use dotster, especially for the domains which are important to me – and there’s a great offer on at present: Low cost domain registration. Buy one domain, get one free!

I also use a couple of other domain name registrars – and I’ll tell you more about them some other time.