A shop's website goes dark on a Tuesday morning. The domain expired on Monday, the renewal reminder went to an email address nobody checks any more, and now customers see an error page and Google is starting to notice. This happens to established businesses every month, and it is entirely avoidable. Here is how renewal works and how to stop it ever happening to you.
Domain and hosting are two separate things
Your domain is the name, yourbusiness.com or yourbusiness.com.bd. Your hosting is the server that stores the website files. Each has its own renewal date and its own bill, and they are often bought from different companies. Losing either one takes the site down, but a lost domain is far worse, because someone else can register it.
What happens after a domain expires
- Day 0 to about day 30: the site and email stop working, but you can usually still renew at the normal price.
- The next 30 days or so: a redemption period where renewal is still possible but with a large penalty fee on top.
- After that: the domain is released and anyone can register it. Competitors and domain resellers watch these releases.
The exact windows vary by extension; .com.bd domains follow BTCL's rules and can be less forgiving, so treat the expiry date itself as the deadline.
What happens when hosting expires
The site goes offline and, after a grace period, the host may delete your files. If you have no backup of your own, that is the website gone. Email hosted with the site stops too.
Five steps that make expiry impossible
- Put the renewal dates in your calendar today, with a reminder 30 days before each one. Log in to the registrar and host and read the dates; do not rely on memory.
- Fix the contact email on both accounts to one that a real person reads every day. Most lost domains were lost because reminders went nowhere.
- Register domains for several years at once. A domain renewed for three years is a domain you do not think about for three years.
- Keep your own backup of the site files and database, even if the host promises daily backups.
- Use one provider for both, so there is one renewal date and one bill, and someone whose job is to remind you.
How X IT handles it
With X IT's Domain and Hosting service, we register and manage the domain for you, host the site on fast SSD servers with free SSL and daily backups, and monitor uptime. Because both are on one account, you get one renewal reminder from a team that knows your site. Domain registration starts at ৳2,500 per year and SSD hosting at ৳3,000 per year, listed on the Hosting and Domain Packages page. Existing clients can renew from their bill payment page in one step.
Not sure when your current domain expires? Send us the domain name and we will look it up and tell you.
