You can’t run a Web business without a domain name. And over time, if you’re like other Web workers, your portfolio of domain names continually expands — making management increasingly cumbersome.

The result for many Web pros is that they sometimes fail to renew their domains and those precious brand assets ultimately expire. Should you ever want that domain name again, you will likely spend some money — and a whole lot of time — to get it back under your control.

Registered domain names that expire go through what is referred to as a release process. In essence, if the owner of a domain name fails to renew or chooses not to renew a domain name, it becomes available to the highest bidder (more on that later). That means that anyone can acquire an expired domain name once it is released. If you’re concerned about your brand, then you must know how to acquire expired domains.

Another reason to know about the process of acquiring expired domains is that some of them could prove to be valuable assets to your business. While it can be quite the speculative undertaking, it is not uncommon for expired domain names to receive visitor traffic — typically through user bookmarks, social media links, or long tail search engine placements; visitor traffic that can benefit your primary Web property.

While there are Web workers (most often SEOs) who acquire domains to capitalize on their existing search result rankings, many believe this to be a fool’s errand because search engines are sophisticated enough to rapidly reassign value should there be a 301 or 302 redirect.

That being said, knowing how to identify beneficial domain names and how to acquire them will still serve your enterprise well should the fateful day arrive that you realize your precious domain is no longer in your control. All it takes are three simple steps.

Learn the process

To get started with the process of acquiring expired domain names, it is first imperative to understand the stages of the domain name release process. Contrary to popular opinion, domain names do not become available on the day they actually expire.

Registrars typically wait 40 days after the stated expiration date to expel the domain name, and then will often hold the domain name another 30 days to give the previous registrant the opportunity to renew. The official release date or “drop” is nearly impossible to track, but there are additional ways to improve your chances of securing a specific domain name that has expired before it reenters the general pool of available domains.

Study the history

If you’re interested in acquiring an expired domain that you have not previously owned, you will quickly find that gathering as much information as possible about that domain will prove quite useful.

There are several services such as Freshdrop.net that provide detailed information from registrars including the estimated number of visitors, the Pagerank and, in some cases, the reported revenue when and if available.

The more you know about the expiring domain and its history, the better chance you’ll have of being able to monetize it in the future.

Place your order

Once you’ve gotten a handle on what domain you’d like to acquire, assuming it is currently in pending deletion, you will need to backorder the domain name. The registrar where the domain was previously registered has first dibs, but any registrar can then request the domain.

NameJet, Pool, SnapNames and other backordering services have united with domain registrars for the particular reason of being able to pass on various requests for the domain. There’s no way of knowing which registrar’s request will be granted, so you do have to backorder pretty much everywhere to guarantee you get the domain name. Should someone else also want that expiring domain, it enters into an auction where the highest bidder wins.

Without question, purchasing an expired domain name is a long, cumbersome and even convoluted process. Acquiring expired or expiring domain names is not for the faint of heart — it requires diligence, patience and a relatively substantial budget. But the payout can be enormous if everything works out. With the rapidly changing domain name landscape, expect further discussion around this white-hot topic.

About Author:- Guest Post by Kashif Raza, currently working for makeawebsitezone.com. Trying to determine how to host a website online? Visit Make A Website Zone to learn the process of creating and hosting a new website.