One of the most important ways a company communicates with their customers is via the web and email. Yet, such an critical function is entirely dependent on keeping the domain name registered, and all too often, companies let it expire and are confronted with headaches and upset customers and partners.

As we all get more and more busy, it is all too easy to forget about pending domain renewals. In many instances, the domain registrar for your domain will kindly email you a reminder to renew. However, what if the email address that the registrar has is out of date? Perhaps the original contact is no longer with your company, or, simply that the email address has changed. I find it essential to put domain expiry dates in my calendar, and to ensure a few other individuals at my company do the same.

How can you easily find out when your domain will expire? Try:
http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=google.com
Where you change google.com to your address.
This WHOIS search will show you what company you registered with, when your domain is up for renewal, as well as the contact information on file. Try to avoid having one person being the Admin and Tech contacts. Separating these to different staff helps guard against that one individual leaving and leaving your company without a contact.

Given the relatively small cost for domain renewals, especially compared to the impact of the domain going offline, it is recommended to renew the domain for the longest time period possible (currently 10 years). Furthermore, at the end of each year, try to remember to renew it yet again so that it remains valid for 10 years.

If you are unfortunate enough to have let the domain expire, what can you do? ICANN, the governing body of domains, has recommended a 30 day grace period, whereby participating registrars will allow you to easily renew your domain within the month it expires.
http://www.icann.org/bucharest/redemption-topic.htm
After this 30 day window (or right after expiry if your registrar is so inclined), the domain can be grabbed by anyone. You may be lucky enough to find it available, however, the trend these days if for someone to grab recently expired domains in the hope of making money. This can include hosting ads at your (former) website, as well as charging a fee to give the domain back to you.

Given the importance of keeping your domain properly renewed, it should be handled as any other business critical element. Multiple people should be made aware of the issue. The needed login and contact information for your registrar should be documented in a safe place. Periodic WHOIS checks of your domain are a wise idea, to ensure all information is correct and up to date. It only takes a few moments of your time to ensure you and your company have a trouble free domain experience.

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