Business domain expired? What happens to your website and email, and how to stop it
Earlier this month we tapped the website link on a local property maintenance business's Facebook page. It opened an online casino.
Their web address had lapsed. Someone else registered it in early October, pointed it at a betting site and left it there. Every customer who checked them out from Facebook, Google or the side of the van has been landing on slot machines and free spins. The business had no idea.
It's not as rare as you'd think, and it's almost always avoidable. This guide covers how a UK domain expires, what stops working when it does, why it happens to busy trades and the two minute check that stops it happening to you.
What a domain actually is
Your domain is your web address: the yourbusiness.co.uk part. It's separate from your website. Think of it like a phone number that points at your website and your email.
You never own a domain outright. You rent it, usually a year or a few years at a time, through a company called a registrar. For .uk and .co.uk addresses, the registry behind all of them is Nominet. If the rent isn't paid, the address eventually goes back on the market.
How a .co.uk domain expires
According to Nominet's published rules for .uk domains, this is roughly how it goes once the expiry date passes without a renewal:
The first 30 days: you can usually still renew as normal. Some registrars switch the website off or show a holding page straight away.
After 30 days: Nominet suspends the domain. Your website and your email stop working.
Up to 90 days after expiry: you can still renew and get it back.
About 95 days after expiry: the domain is released. Anyone can register it.
That last step is where the casino sites come in. People run software that watches for expiring addresses with a bit of history and traffic, buys them the moment they drop and points them at whatever makes money. Your address has years of links from Facebook, Google and directories pointing at it, which is exactly what makes it worth grabbing.
What stops working
When a domain is suspended or taken, it isn't just the website.
Your website goes offline or shows someone else's content.
Your email on that domain stops receiving. Customers who email you get a bounce back, or nothing at all, and think you've ignored them.
Your Google Business Profile still points at the old address, so the website button sends people to the wrong place.
Your Facebook page, Instagram bio and directory listings do the same.
Anything printed: van livery, business cards, flyers, QR codes and invoices.
Your Google rankings for that address. Once someone else is running a different site on it, the history you built up is gone.
Why it happens to good businesses
Nobody lets their web address lapse on purpose. It's nearly always one of these:
The renewal email went to an old address. The domain was set up years ago with an email you no longer check.
The card on file expired. Auto renew tried, failed and the warning emails went unread.
Someone else registered it for you. A web designer, a relative or a previous business partner set it up in their name or on their account, then moved on.
You thought the website company handled it. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they handled the website and nobody handled the domain.
The two minute check
Do this today. It costs nothing.
Find your expiry date. Search for "Nominet WHOIS lookup" and type in your domain, or log in to whichever company you pay for it. You'll see the registrar, the expiry date and when it was last updated.
Check whose name it's in. The registrant should be you or your business, not your old web designer.
Check the email on the account is one you read every day.
Turn on auto renew and check the card on file hasn't expired.
Put the expiry date in your phone calendar with a reminder a month before, just in case.
While you're at it, test the rest of your details the way a customer would. Send yourself an email from your own website's contact details. We recently came across a heating engineer whose website showed an email address with one letter missing, so every customer email bounced. Tap every link on your Facebook page, Instagram bio and Google profile.
What to do if it has already happened
If it's within 90 days of expiry: contact your registrar straight away and renew it. You may pay a fee to bring it back, but you'll keep the address.
If it's been released and someone else has it: getting it back is hard and not guaranteed. Nominet runs a Dispute Resolution Service for cases where a domain has been registered in bad faith, but it takes time and you'll want proper advice before going down that road. In the meantime:
Get a new domain registered in your own name.
Update your Google Business Profile, Facebook, Instagram and directory listings to the new address.
Remove the old link everywhere you can, so you stop sending customers to the casino.
Tell regular customers and suppliers your new email.
Get new cards printed and plan a van update.
A yearly checklist that takes ten minutes
Put a reminder in your phone for the same day every year and run through this:
Domain: expiry date, registrant name, account email and auto renew all checked.
Website: open it on your phone. Does it load, and is the phone number right?
Email: send yourself a test from another account to the address on your website.
Google Business Profile: the website link, hours, phone number and service areas.
Social pages: tap the link on Facebook and Instagram and make sure it opens your site.
Print: check the web address on your van, cards and invoices still matches.
It's dull, but it's ten minutes a year against weeks of customers landing somewhere they shouldn't.
If you've changed web address before
If you ever moved from one domain to another, the old one might still be sitting on old flyers, directory listings or a Facebook post somebody shared years ago. Either keep renewing the old domain and point it at your new site, or make sure it's gone from everywhere you can control. A lapsed old address with your name all over the internet is exactly what gets picked up and reused.
Questions trades ask
How long after a .co.uk domain expires can I still renew it?
Under Nominet's rules you can renew up to 90 days after the expiry date. After 30 days it's suspended, so your website and email stop working before that point.
Can someone else buy my old web address?
Yes. Once a .uk domain is released, roughly 95 days after it expired, anyone can register it. Addresses with years of links pointing at them get snapped up quickly.
My web designer bought my domain. Do I own it?
Whoever is listed as the registrant is the legal holder. If that isn't you, ask them to transfer it into your name while you're still on good terms.
Will my email stop working if my domain expires?
Yes. Email on that domain stops once the domain is suspended. Customers will get bounce backs or nothing at all.
Whoever builds your website, ask them this
Two questions: whose name is the domain in, and when does it renew? If the answer is vague, sort it now. If you'd like us to look over your web address, website and links for you, get in touch and we'll tell you what a customer sees.
You might also like seven free fixes for your trade business this weekend and six checks for your Google Business Profile.
