UK Domain Name Expiry
I was pleased today as two domains that I have been watching for 99 days exactly, finally became available to register again;
http://www.web-diagnostics.co.uk (and the same domain, just without the hyphen).
Suspended UK Domain Names naturally become available to the public 92 or 99 days from their renewal date.
I have no idea why it is 92 or 99 - but it just is and the two I managed to get today are the fifth and sixth I have managed to “steal” in my time, which includes; www.cj-design.co.uk and www.live-support.co.uk.
My tips for ensuring you snag your domain are;
- Check the Nominet WHOIS database at www.nic.uk directly.
- Check before and after the hour passes, usually it will become available in the morning (mine was at 8am)
- Once you see those magical words “This domain name has not been registered” register it quickly with a registrar that you can rely on (ideally one you’ve already got an account with).
If you can’t be bothered to do the above then you could sign up for a domain-dropping service who pretty much does the same as the above, except they automate the process - which for me, can lead to problems. It’s always better to do it manually if you can.
I have big plans for my “Web Diagnostics” application, which I plan to launch as a free service in 2009, weather permitting.
February 14th, 2009 at 1:59 am
[...] View original here: James Crooke - Web Developer » Blog Archive » UK Domain Name Expiry [...]
January 17th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
James
I am looking at a name that I would like to take after it expires (in the 92 or 99 days)
Do you have some names of reliable registars that could be used - who do you used when you did yours?
J
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
Hi J, I used 123-reg.co.uk but I would recommend UK Reg too. It depends how popular the domain you want to obtain is. If you think it will be popular, you can use a domain catching service that will attempt to renew it the second it becomes available.