Whether you want to buy a domain name, renew your existing one, or look for nameservers, you need to know how to check domain details. This post will show different methods of finding domain name details.
How to Check Domain Details from Expiry Date to Nameservers
There are many reasons that people need to find domain details. For example, if you want to buy a website, you need to find the owner. Similarly, if you need to renew your domain name, you must find out when your domain will expire.
Also, people want to know domain authority and age if they need to buy backlinks. On the other hand, if you find that a website is loading fast, you may want to know who the hosting provider is.
Ultimately, finding domain details will help you learn more about the domain name and make an informed decision about buying it.
Let’s find out how to check domain details step-by-step.
How to Check Domain Expiry Date Accurately
The domain expiry date means when the domain will be renewed. As you know, accredited registrars sell domain names for a one-year period. Though you can pay for 3-5 years, people usually register domain names for one year and renew them the following years.
Now, the question is, why is it essential to know your domain name expiration date? Well, after registering the domain name, you have created a website, posted content, done SEO and are either monetizing or getting clients.
However, when the domain name expires, your whole website will be gone, and anybody can buy it. As a result, you will lose not only the website but also your whole business and potential clients. That’s why you need to know how to check the domain expiry date.
Pro tip: To avoid losing your domain, you can enable the auto-renew option. Most hosting companies have this option on the domain management page. Also, provide your working email when you buy the domain so you can receive and check renewal mail regularly.
Each domain has a lifecycle starting from registration to deletion. When you buy a domain name, it will remain active for 1 year.
When one-year passes, your domain expires and goes to the grace period. That means you can still renew your domain without extra charges. The registrar typically offers 30-45 days to renew your domain.
However, if you still don’t renew your domain, it will enter the redemption period, and you will need to pay additional fees to renew it. The redemption fee is much higher than the regular renewal fee.
If you don’t renew it in the redemption phase, the registrar deletes the domain after a five-day pending period. When a domain is deleted, it becomes available for the public to purchase.
However, once the domain expires, your website will be deleted. So, you need to know exactly when your domain will expire and try to renew it beforehand.
Here are several ways to check the domain expiry date in a step-by-step guide.
Using Domain Name Registrar
You can quickly check your domain name expiry date from your registrar’s dashboard. Follow the steps below to get the exact expiry date.
Step 1: Go to your domain name registrar. For example, I bought OnlineBusinessBasic.com from ExonHost.com and logged into it.
Step 2: Select “My Domains” from the left menu. You will see the “Reg Date” and “Expire Date” beside each domain.
Step 3: Click “Manage Domain” on the right side of your domain name to view its expiration date.
For GoDaddy.com users, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Sign in to GoDaddy.com.
Step 2: Click the arrow beside your profile name from the upper-left corner.
Step 3: Choose “My Products” from the drop-down menu.
Step 4: Scroll down and click “Manage All” under the “All Products and Services” option.
Step 5: You will see the expiry date below your domain name.
However, if you are having trouble finding the expiration date of your domain name in your register, you can just chat with them and ask them to find the expiry date. The support team will help you right away.
You can log in to your register and check the expiry date of your domain. How about other people’s domain names? You can’t check the expiration date of domain names you don’t own using the registrar.
If you need to know the expiration date of any domain name, you can use third-party tools. Here, I will show you how to check the domain expiry date using WHOIS Lookup.
Using WHOIS Lookup Tools
WHOIS lookup means finding domain details. Many web tools provide domain data. My favorite is Whois.com.
I use it when I need to find out details about other domain names. Also, if you don’t have access to the registrar account or don’t want to log in, you can use the WHOIS lookup tool. Let’s find out how.
Step 1: Go to the whois.com website.
Step 2: Select the “Whois” option and type a domain name. I searched for “OnlineBusinessBasic.com” and got this result.
Step 3: You can see Whois.com clearly stated my domain’s expiry date.
Step 4: This method allows you to check any domain’s expiry date. For example, by searching for “bbc.co.uk,” you will see the result below.
How to Check Domain Registration Date
Domain registration dates refer to the day you bought your domain name. Like the domain expiration date, you can find the registration date using the same method and tool.
Why do you need a domain registration date? If you want to know how old a domain is, you need to know the registration date.
If you want to buy an aged domain or get backlinks from an older domain, you need to research the domain background, including when the domain was registered.
Here are the step-by-step instructions for checking the domain registration date of any domain.
Using Domain Registrar
You can know when a domain is bought from the registrar. This method is only applicable if the domain is yours. Here are the steps.
Step 1: Go to your domain registrar and sign in. “OnlineBusinessBasic.com” was registered from ExonHost.com. I logged into ExonHost.com.
Step 2: Select “My Domains” from the left menu and click “Manage” on the right side of each domain.
Step 3: You will see the registration date of your domain name.
The methods are pretty much the same for GoDaddy or other registrars. You log into the registrar’s dashboard, click “Products” or “Domains,” and choose the “Manage” option. You will find the domain registration and expiry date.
Using WHOIS Lookup
Another way to find domain registration dates is through the WHOIS lookup tools. My favorite tool is Whois.com.
This tool lets you find the registration date for your domain name and any other domain name. Here is the process.
Step 1: Visit Whois.com and choose the Whois option from the top category.
Step 2: Type any domain name and hit the search button.
Step 3: I typed bbc.co.uk and got the result below.
Step 4: It seems the bbc.co.uk domain was registered before August 1996.
Also Check: How to Check Domain Name History
How to Find Domain Registrar
A domain registrar is an ICANN-accredited company authorized to sell domain names. There are hundreds of domain registrars online. Some are large companies, whereas others are small businesses.
If you want to know who yours or any domain registrar is, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Go to Whois.com and click on Whois option from the upper menu.
Step 2: Type your domain name and click the search button.
Step 3: You will see the registrar right below your domain name.
Step 4: For OnlineBusinessBasic.com, you can see the registrar is Purple IT Ltd.
Step 5: Like this, type any domain name and get the registrar’s company.
Read More: How to Generate a Domain Name
How to Find Domain Owner
If you want to buy a domain name or website but cannot contact the owner, you can find the owner using WHOIS lookup tools.
Besides showing registration and expiry dates, WHOIS lookup tools reveal domain owner information.
The owner’s information should be public, and all WHOIS tools should be shown to them. However, many domain owners use a small ID protection service to protect their names.
So, instead of the actual owners, you may see the name is “Domain Admin” and a fake address.
If the owner didn’t buy the privacy protection service, you can see the name and address. Let’s find out how to check the owner of any domain.
Step 1: Go to Whois.com and select the “Whois” option from the menu.
Step 2: Type your domain name and hit the search button.
Step 3: You will see the owner’s name if the domain is not privacy protected. Otherwise, you will see the owner’s name as “Domain Admin” or “Not Public.”
Step 4: I tested Google.com and got this result. The owner is “Google LLC.”
How to Find Domain Nameservers
Nameservers are unique server addresses that your hosting company provides. You will need the nameservers when you connect to your hosting company using your domain name.
Here is a simple way to find them.
- Go to Whois.com and navigate to the “Whois” option.
- Search for your domain name like “TechTarget.com.”
- You can find the name servers like this.
- The hosting company usually provides two nameservers, starting with “ns” and the company’s name. However, many companies provide four or more for large websites.
Also Check: How To Choose a Domain Name for Your Business
How to Check Domain Age
Many SEO professionals are looking for domain age when they need to buy backlinks through guest posts. The reason is that search engines prioritize older domains that may have higher authority.
Follow the steps below to check the domain age.
- Go to DupliChecker.com.
- Type your domain name like OnlineBusinessBasic.com and click the “Check Domain Age” button.
- It will show results like this.
- Also, you can find domain registration and expiry dates.
How to Check Domain Authority
Domain authority refers to trustworthiness and reliability. Moz developed the terms and assigned a score from 0-100. The higher the score, the better the performance on search engines.
Let’s find out how to check domain authority.
- Visit Moz.com and log in.
- Click the “Link Explorer” from the menu.
- Type your domain name. For example, I typed “whois.com” and got this result. Whois.com has domain authority of 85.
Conclusion
From making purchase decisions to renewing domain names and conducting SEO, you need domain details to research the domain background. This post mentions only a few tools. However, you can use many other tools to find WHOIS records.
