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.
Katie Collins
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 common 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.
How to renew a domain name
While it might be scary not to complete the renewal of your websites' domains, 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:
Step one
When you receive a reminder for the renewal of your websites' domains, log in and head to the domains section of your Control Panel.
Step two
Click on the domain you want to renew. Press renew now, and select the length of time you want to renew it for from the drop-down menu. This can be up to a max of 10 years based on the current length of time until expiration.
Step three
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.
Pretty simple, right? And all of that takes as little as five minutes. And if you enable automatic renewals, it'll save you even more time – you'll just need to check your domains have renewed.
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.
Why is domain name renewal important?
Domain names are essentially the real estate of the internet – if you don’t pay your rent or renew your contract, you can’t keep the flat.
The renewal of domains allows you to keep control of your website's domain. If you don’t renew expired domain names, there’s a relatively high chance that it'll be picked up by someone else, possibly with malicious intent.
Some disreputable domain registrars have been known to prey upon expired domain names, buying them the moment they expire and then offering to sell them back at a grossly inflated price. One of the most costly versions of this is cybersquatting, which is the act of purchasing a domain name with the express intent of profiting from a brand's reputation by reselling it to them for a profit. Unlike typosquatting, cybersquatting is outright illegal and is liable to cost you a lot.
How to pick a domain name registrar
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!
And we don't just help with buying and renewing domains. We can help with domain transfers too. Plus we can even lend a hand with your website itself with our WordPress hosting and very own website builder.
