Protecting Your Domain Name

Protecting Your Domain Name

This article discusses some potential domain registration issues and how to prevent them from occurring.

Protecting Your Domain from Expiration

We sometimes receive urgent support requests about a website that “is completely down,” only to find that the site is fine but the domain registration has expired. In some cases, the registration expired so long ago that it was completely deleted — and occasionally even re-registered by another party.

This issue is almost always caused by invalid contact e-mail addresses in the domain record. Most registrars send renewal notices to the billing or administrative contact on file. If those e-mail addresses are no longer valid, you won’t receive the renewal notice, and your domain can expire and be “turned off.” In severe cases, you may lose the domain entirely.

To avoid this, check your website regularly, even if you haven’t made any changes. Review the WHOIS record for your domain to ensure that all details are up to date, and update them if needed.

InfoNote: If One&OnlyHost did not register your domain or you have not transferred it to us, we do not monitor its registration status. Even if your domain expires, is deleted, or is re-registered by someone else, our services remain active and billable.

Avoiding Bogus Domain Renewal Scams

Some companies send fake domain expiration notices disguised as renewal invoices or official government correspondence. These deceptive “invoices” — often sent by mail or e-mail — are actually attempts to transfer your domain to another registrar, usually at a higher price and without added benefits.

Always verify that any renewal notice comes from your actual registrar before making a payment.

    • Related Articles

    • Domain Privacy

      What is Domain Privacy? When you register a domain name, your registrant details—such as name, email, phone number, and address—are stored in the public WHOIS database. Domain Privacy Protection (also known as WHOIS Privacy or Private Registration) ...

    • Choosing an Effective Domain Name

      In planning your online presence, a domain name is one of the most important decisions you will make—especially if you rely on offline promotion to drive traffic to your site. If you expect most visitors to arrive by clicking a search result or a ...

    • Validating Your Domain with ICANN

      As of 2013, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) requires validation of the registrant WHOIS contact information whenever you: Register a new domain. Update the registrant WHOIS contact information for an existing domain. ...

    • Registering a Domain with One&OnlyHost

      This article explains how to purchase and register a new domain name from One&OnlyHost. When you register a domain, you own and control it. You can point it to a hosting plan with any company, and you can transfer it to another domain registrar at ...

    • Setting the Nameservers for a Domain

      If you already own a domain from another registrar or hosting company, you can point it to One&OnlyHost by updating its nameserver (DNS) settings. Your billing and domain registration will remain with your current registrar, but your DNS will direct ...