Protect Your Domain Name

If you don't stay on top of your domain registration, you can accidently and permanently lose it. Many domain names are lost every day so you should be aware of the conditions that can lead to a loss of your domain name.

1. Your domain name expires

If you don't keep your contact information current your registrar can not notify you that your expiration date is near. Most domain registrars no longer send registration information to your home address so making sure that your registrar has an updated email address is very important. If your domain reaches expiration, it can be grabbed by a speculator that uses automated tools within minutes and seconds of its expiration. Some speculators will try to sell the domain name back to you for large sums of money or redirect the domain name to an Adsense or other pay-per-click site to profit on the existing domain traffic. If this happens to you or your business, the registrar can not help you. Register your domain name for multiple years -- usually from 2 to 10 years.

2. Your domain name is hijacked

Domain names can be hijacked by submitting false domain transfer requests which can look authentic and trick domain owners and registrars into turning over control of the domain name. Hijackers are sometimes interested in the ransom value of a hijacked domain name or redirecting it to a site for the traffic value. Once a hijacker has control of the domain name, they can easily update the contact and owner information. Once the original registrar loses control of the domain name, they can not assist you with reclaiming it and attorney fees for assistance can be prohibitive.

3. Your domain contact information is not accurate

Domain registrars are required to contact domain name owners at least once per year to verify their contact information. If a domain name owner fails to respond within 15 days, the registrar can legally cancel the domain account.