SHORT ANSWER: An expired domain is a domain name that was once registered to an individual or a company whose registration has expired.

LONG ANSWER: Your domain name can be registered, or owned, by either you as an individual or by your business name. Once your domain name is registered, it’s yours for one year, then you have an option to renew. Once your domain is registered, each year you get to renew that registration. 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!

A domain name with an expired registration, meaning no one owns the name at the moment, is known as an “expired” domain name. If you fail to renew your domain name, it becomes available for purchase.

Who would miss a domain name renewal?

• 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.

You should get several renewal notices from your domain name registrar for each domain name as it comes time to expire. If your email address on file with your domain name registrar is invalid, you will miss your 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. Your domain name registrar parks your old domain name because there might still be traffic to the site, traffic thta just might click on an ad. The page will be filled with PPC ads, all profits going to the 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! (Even a domain name without much traffic might cough up a few pennies over time… even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then!)

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!