Everything You Need To Know About Domain Life Cycle :

6 Domain Stages

Just like everything in existence goes through a Life Cycle, so do Domain Names. It’s important to understand the Life Cycle of a Domain Name and what happens between the registration and expiration of a domain name.

1) Domain Availability

This is the first stage of a domain name when it is available for purchase and registration. When a domain is ‘available’, it means that anyone can purchase the domain name immediately. You can use our Domain Availability Checker to see if a domain is taken or not. Popular domain names get registered quickly so if you’ve found the perfect domain name for your website you should act fast to register it.

 

2) Domain Registration

A domain name can be registered for a minimum of 1 year to a maximum of 10 years.  If you choose to register a domain name for more than 1 year, then you’re prepaying for that term. During the registration process, you need to provide valid contact information. This is critical because if you put false contact information, your domain name can be revoked by the domain registry. Always use a valid email address that you check regularly as this is the email address where you will receive domain name renewal reminders and other important domain related information.

Most domain name extensions offer Domain WHOIS privacy protection. When you register a new domain name your personal contact information goes in the WHOIS database. This is a publicly accessible and searchable database where anyone can look up the ownership of a domain. For a small annual fee of $9.95 you can opt to hide your personal information from WHOIS. We highly recommend adding domain privacy as you’ll significantly reduce the amount of spam and robocalls you receive.  Domain privacy can be added at the time of registration (recommended) or any time after the domain has been registered.

3) Active Domain Status

Once your domain name is registered, the status becomes ‘Active’. This means that your domain is successfully registered and you can use it with your web hosting account. You can also edit your name servers and change or update your domains contact information.

 

4) Expired Domain (Grace Period)

If you fail to renew your domain before the expiry date, it goes in to the ‘Grace Period’.  Any services such as your website and email would no longer work. The Grace Period last between 30 to 45 days from the expiry date. For example, if your domain expired today then you have 30 days to renew your domain name at the regular price without any fees or penalties. If you decide to renew your domain, then it will start working again within 24 hours. It is critical to renew a domain you wish to keep within the Grace Period to avoid any fees.

Important note: The Grace Period only lasts for 29 days from expiry date.  For example, if your domain expired today then you have 29 days to renew your domain name at the regular price without any fees or penalties.

5) Redemption Period

When your domain expires more than 29 days, it will enter RedemptionPeriod phase.

Renewal during RedemptionPeriod is costly, both in fees (RM750) and in paperwork. For this reason it is very important that you renew your domain before the expiry (or, in the worst case, within 29 days after expiry date).

Please note that the large REDEMPTION PERIOD renewal fee (RM750) is a result of Registry policy and cannot be waived. The whole fees (100%) will go directly to Registry (not NetKL).

RedemptionPeriod phase is normally 30 days (from 30th day to 69th day, after expiry date).

However, anybody can purchase this domain at a much higher price (thru auction) within this period.

If nobody buys that domain (thru auction) until 69th day, it will become available for registration by other parties on 80th day.

If you have a domain that is in REDEMPTION PERIOD and wish to renew it, please make payment (of RM750) a.s.a.p & contact support@netkl.com immediately, before somebody buys it (thru auction).

We will raise an invoice for your immediate attention, and when it is paid, we will instruct the Registry to restore the domain. This process can take approximately 3-4 business days, after we receive your payment notification.

6) Pending Deletion

Once the redemption period has elapsed, the domain enters the ‘Deletion Phase’.   After about 5 days, the domain is deleted and is available to the public for registration.  When a domain name has been deleted, you can try to register it again at the regular rate. It’s important to take note that there are Domain Squatting companies who instantly register domains as soon as they are available to the public. This is more common for popular domain names that holds value. Once they purchase the domain name, they list it for sale for a MUCH higher price. If your domain name is important to you then you should renew it as early as possible and for a number of years.