Domain Expiry

Why it matters

When a domain name registration expires, the domain stops resolving. Your site, email, and any services hosted on that domain go offline simultaneously. This is one of the few SEO problems that requires no crawler, no algorithm change, and no competitor — only a missed renewal date.

Domain registrations renew annually or on multi-year terms. Auto-renewal is common, but it depends on a payment method that has not expired, an account with active access, and a registrar that sends usable reminder emails to an address someone reads. Any of these failing is enough.

After expiry, registrars typically hold the domain in a grace period of 30 to 45 days before it becomes available for general registration. Competitors, domain investors, and automated buyers monitor expiry lists. A domain that lapses even briefly can be gone permanently.

Recovery after accidental expiry involves the registrar's redemption process, which typically incurs a significant fee and takes several days. During that time, your site is offline and your email does not work.

How we check it

We query the RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) API for your domain's expiry date. RDAP is the structured, machine-readable replacement for WHOIS, published by ICANN and supported by all major registrars. We read the expiry date from the RDAP response.

We notify you at 30, 15, 5, and 1 days before expiry. Each threshold fires once. If the domain renews, the threshold resets.

What to watch for

If you receive a 30-day warning and you have auto-renewal enabled, log in to your registrar and verify the payment method on the account is current. Do not wait for the 5-day warning — at that point auto-renewal has already failed.