SHORT ANSWER: An expired domain is a domain name that’s registration has expired.

LONG ANSWER: When you purchase a domain name, you have a choice of whether to register it to you or to your company. Domain names are registered for a year at a time. After that, each year, you renew your ownership of that domain name. Domain name renewal costs anywhere from $5 to $15, depending on which domain name registrar you use.

Most domain name registrars give you the option of a multi-year renewal, which saves a few dollars and the headache of renewing every year. Multi-year renewals are a good idea if you have a domain name you are pretty certain you will want for the foreseeable future.

Even if you decide to let go of the website attached to the name, you can always use it for PPC and affiliate ads like the big guys do!

An expired domain name is one with an expired registration – no one can claim ownership. If you don’t renew your domain names at the end of each year, they become available for purchase on the open market.

Who would allow a good domain name to expire?

• Perhaps the domain name turned out to be not so good!
• Absentminded website owners who simply neglected to renew their domain names;
• Webmasters who got tied up in other ventures or interests;
• Webmasters who discontinued a site due to time constraints;
• Webmasters who ran out of money to continue to operate.

Prior to your domain name expiring, your domain name registrar should send you several renewal notices. Make sure you have a working email address on file with your registrar so you don’t miss a renewal notice!

These days, when a domain name expires, domain name registrars “take over” the name for a few months afterwards, before releasing it to be sold again. They do this so they can make money on any traffic you may still have finding its way to the name. The parked page will now be filed with Pay Per Click ads with all the money going to the domain name registrar. Smart!

Here’s the rub: if you decide you want the name back after it’s expired and the registrar has assumed control of it, the registrar will charge you anywhere from $50 to $150 (those are the prices I’ve seen) to pull that domain name out of limbo and reinstate it to you! (You never know about a domain name. Out of the blue it could get a few PPC dollars – even if only from misspellings!)

The lesson here is, if there is any chance you can use that domain name, make sure your email address is good so you don’t miss your renewal!

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