It happens to all of us that we often forget deadlines in which we have to pay a certain fee. But when it comes to your domain name, which is one of the most important components of your online presence, you should not compromise. A domain name is your address where users can find you online. If it is not paid for within certain deadlines, it can be lost forever.
There are 5 important phases in the life cycle of a domain, and it is extremely important to know these phases that a domain can go through if we forget to renew it.
After purchasing a domain name, your name enters the most important of all cycles, the Active one. If you renew your domain regularly, it will never enter any of the other periods in which your domain is inactive.
To know when it's best to renew your domain name, you need to better understand the "life cycle" of the name. Each name has a different status code in the time window it is in. 5 time periods are defined - Available, Active, Grace Period, Redemption Period, Pending Delete.
The minimum term for purchasing a domain is 1 year and the longest is 10 years (example .com)
Available - This is the first status of a domain name, which indicates that the domain in question is free for registration and can be purchased by the customer.
#JumpTip - When you buy your domain name, put the expiration date on your virtual calendar. Don't forget to add a reminder so you don't forget to pay its new deadline. Jump.bg notifies its customers about the upcoming expiration of the prepaid period of your domain name.
Active - After a domain name has been registered, it changes to the status "Active". In this status, the domain belongs to the person who applied for it, and domain names can normally be purchased for a period of 1 to 10 years. During this period, the domain is active and operations related to it can be performed (renewal, transfer, update of DNS settings or WHO IS information).
If you want to keep your domain name, it is best to keep an eye on when your domain expires and renew it in good time. We recommend renewing in "Active" status. This will ensure that the normal operation of your website and the mails associated with the domain name are not disrupted. Even if you renew your domain name a few days or months before the expiration date, you will not lose any period of use.
If a particular domain name is not renewed by its expiration date, it enters the Grace Period.
Grace period - Most domain endings also have a grace period, into which they fall after the paid term for the respective domain name has expired. During this period, the domain is inactive and the only option is to renew it. The renewal amount is unchanged. You have the option of renewing your domain name both in "Active" status and in the "Grace Period" at a normal, regular price. The main difference is that the domain is inactive in the Grace Period, which means that your website is not accessible.
The registrar "parks" all domain names that have fallen into a grace period on its server, and when a particular domain name is accessed via the browser, advertising pages are loaded. During this period, all websites and emails associated with the domain will stop working.
The duration of the grace period depends on the extension of the domain name and the registrar. In most cases, the grace period is 36 days from the expiration date of the domain.
If you wish to renew your domain during the free period, the price remains unchanged. Updating the DNS zones associated with the domain name will take up to 48 hours after the renewal.
If a specific domain name is not renewed during this period, it will be transferred to the Redemption Period at the end of the corresponding period.
The specified conditions for the free period, the redemption period and the deletion period apply to most domain extensions (.COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ etc.), but not to all of them. One of these exceptions is, for example, the .EU domain extension.
Attention: This time limit does not apply to .eu domains, as these expire immediately and have no grace period. Their expiration period is 40 days.
Redemption period - If the domain name is not renewed during its grace period, it will enter a redemption period. During this period you have the last chance to renew the domain name, and again this is the only permitted course of action. The peculiarity here is that in addition to the normal amount for renewing the domain name, you will have to pay an additional amount (penalty fee), which is determined by the registrar and sent directly to them.
During the buyout period, the domain is inactive again. The registrar holds the domain name not only for the registrant - the registrar has the right to auction or otherwise sell it.
The duration of the buyback period is usually 30 days.
Each name is purchased from a domain registrar who has the right to sell your domain if it expires and is not paid for.
During the redemption period, you will again have the opportunity to renew your domain name, but for an additional fee determined by the registrar.
If a particular domain name is not renewed during the redemption period, it will enter a Pending Delete Period.
Pending Delete – This status usually lasts about 10 days. During the deletion period, no operations related to the specific domain are possible as the registrar deletes/releases the domain name. Once the domain is deleted, it can be registered again (its status is updated to "Available"). In this case, the domain name can be registered by anyone, not just you.
Some customers prefer not to pay for the renewal of the domain name during the redemption period, but wait until it becomes available for registration and claim it at the regular price. In this case, however, there is a risk that someone else will register the desired domain name before you.
In addition to registering the domain and tracking its status, it is important to take care to protect its ownership so that it is not stolen.
Hosting Jump always sends a reminder email 30 days before the expiration of the services you use, so that you have the opportunity to renew them in time. In the customer area, you can also track the date until which they are active.
If you own a WP domain and want to rename it, this guide will show you how to change a WordPress domain name the right way.
