I Lost My Domain, How Do I Get It Back?

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JoeUddeme

JoeUddeme

I Lost My Domain, How Do I Get It Back?

Domain Buying Guides

My domain is expired. Now what? You lost your expired domains, missed the grace period and now your website is deleted. Expired domains can wreak havoc for any brand. We explore expired domains and detail the grace period for your expired domain.

My expired domain name transferred to another registration and now there is no access to search my registrar. The redemption period has lapsed and my domains cannot be renewed.

Did my backlinks expire or transfer with the renewed domain name transfer?

How To Get Your Domain Back

Take these steps below to try and secure your expiry and deleted domain.

Contact the Domain Registrar

Most expired domains have a grace period between 20 and 30 days before domains expire at registrars. During the expiry period, you can contact the registrar to see if you can reclaim your dropped domains.

See If It’s Still Available On the Market

If your domain has passed the redemption period, then you’ll have no choice but to check if it’s available for sale on the after market. Some domains may now have services attached or a new site.

You may have to participate in an expiry auction and bid against other people to buy back your expired domain name. If it’s a popular domain name, expect to pay a significant sum because of the bidding competition and relevance to other brands.

Contact the New Owner

Imagine you lost your domain name and another person succeeded in acquiring it before you could scoop it back up. Would you likely cease hope at this point? No, all hope isn’t actually lost. Try and locate the new owner and explain your situation and work out an agreement on how to get your domain name back. This method isn’t always reliable but can work from time-to-time for certain domains and tlds.

Back-order Process

If you’ve tried all the aforementioned steps and still can’t get your domains, back-ordering is a possible solution after they expire. Registrars offer a back-order service for recently expired domains with a simple filter process for various tlds.

The back-order system can log and track your preferred domains.

Back-ordering is a filter service offered by some registrars letting you reserve the chance to acquire a domain immediately after its expiration.

Most registrars charge a fee for back-ordering domain names and you may still have to compete against other bidders to buy back the expired tlds.

Hire A Broker

You can hire an expert domain name broker to help you buy back your lost domain name. The broker can handle each of these steps we mentioned for you and is more likely to be successful because of past experience in purchasing domain names.

The broker can contact the registered domain owner in the whois system to see if they would be interested in selling the domain name and at what price point without emotional attachment.

NameExperts is a good example of a domain broker that can help you recover your expired domain names. We’ve negotiated over $120 million in domain name sales and protect customers’ anonymity when doing so.

An experienced broker should understand the grace period for your domains and best practices to try and recover the previously registered domain name page.

File Lawsuit

When all else fails, you may need to consult with a domain name attorney

How Can You Lose Your Domain?

Expiration

Expired domains are the most common way to lose a domain. Many people forget to renew their domain names when renewal is due and only remember when they observe a problem with their websites performance. At that point, its too late. The domain expires and is now pending delete and past the renewal date and eventually released.

Expired domain names are hard to get back with a potential to be very cost-prohibitive to secure the domain.

Hijacked Domain

Hackers and malicious actors are present in every part of the Internet, which includes domain names. You could fall victim to domain theft in various ways with phishing tactics for your domains.

Negligence

Negligence on your part may also cause you to lose your domains without knowledge of the expiration date or the last update to your domains.

Dispute

UDRP or reverse domain name hijacking techniques based on registration and function for the org.

What Happens When You Lose A Domain?

Website Goes Down

If you run an online business, a site shutdown can cause financial loss and make your customers lose complete trust in you and your domain. They search and no longer can find you in a browser. Your org is no longer visible on the web.

Costly To Get It Back

Domain name squatters are constantly on the search for domains and tlds, waiting to grab them immediately after the expiration date. Then, they’ll hike the price to register for intended buyers to renew their domains.

Security Issues

Cyber criminals can exploit lost or expiry domains for nefarious activities. For example, they can gain access to old email and get their hands on sensitive information about the previous registrant. They can register similar domains and steal your organic traffic.

In conclusion, when the domain expires, your account and backlinks stop functioning. Following these steps can help protect the drop date for the registered domains.

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