What to Do When Your Web Hosting Expires
Here’s something scary that can happen to you: what if your web hosting expires?
What if you’re going about your life daily and weekly and then out of nowhere you forget to renew the hosting for your website and you lose your entire site? Gone, poof, vanish, buh-bye to all the content you created? It happens and if you’re not careful, it can happen to you. It happened to me and it’s not a fun place to be if you have no idea what it means for you and your website. Now I know you may be thinking that would never happen to you, but if we know anything about how the universe works it’s to “never say never”. Reason being, because life happens. You may become so busy with everything around you that you miss renewing your website and then “ta-ta” there goes your site. But don’t fret! If you have a Bluehost website and you want to know what happens prior to renewing your site and what happens if you lose it, I got you covered.
When you originally purchased your website’s hosting with Bluehost, you purchased it for a certain amount of time. If you’re unsure how long you got it, when you originally got it, then here’s how to figure it out:
- Log into your cPanel and
- Click the “Account” tab in the blue header.
The minute you get to your account profile, dead in the center will be the date your account expires. It’s important to know that because that’s the last day your site will be live and accessible if you do not renew it. Here’s the fun thing, Bluehost will send you reminders when your account is about to expire. Bluehost will send a message to the email associated with your website 59 days and then 29 days prior to your account expiring. So you have time. Within those two months and then one month you can renew your website in order to keep your site active so there is no loss in service.
But what happens if you forget or you’re unable to renew your site and then your expiration date hits? Well, your account will be suspended. Here’s what happens next.
If you were unable to renew the hosting for your site before the expiration date, then Bluehost will send you an email to let you know the account has expired and your website is suspended. Instantly, like fast; they don’t play. That means, your site and all of its content (the writing, photos, videos, comments, etc.) will be down and unavailable until you renew. But there is a grace period! Once your account is expired you have 21 days to renew in order to keep everything you’ve worked so hard on.
Think of it this way: if you lose your account because you were unable to pay for it, then your website will go dark and be placed in a holding cell for 21 days until you return to get it.
If you’re able to renew your site on the day after expiration or on the twentieth day then you’re in luck because you’re site will be restored. If you’re ready and able to renew your website then you can either:
- Click the renewal link via the notification email from Bluehost, or
- Directly log into your Bluehost account.
Both options will take you to the cPanel of your website where you will be presented with options for renewing your web hosting. When it comes to renewing, Bluehost will present you with options to renew in “Quantity” or months. For months and pricing, the current breakdown is roughly:
1. 36 months: $10.99 per month, $395 total
2. 24 months: $11.99 per month, $288 total
3. 12 months: $12.99 per month, $155 total
4. 6 months: $14.99 per month, $90 total
5. 3 months: $14.99 per month (same as 6 months), $45 total
Whichever option you chose when renewing, each option comes with the ability to automatically renew your Sitelock Security for free. Heck, yeah! Sitelock is a supplement to your website that lets visitors know that your website is trustworthy and safe because your credentials are verified. That being said it also scans your site for malware. Basically, it’s good to have especially if it means you don’t have to do anything or pay for anything extra.
Once you have a quantity you’re comfortable with and you’re ready to renew your site, you’ll also have renewal options. This allows you to set up your account to renew the next time around. Your options are to Auto Renew (it’ll renew 15 days before the next expiration), Manual Renew, or Do Not Renew. If you plan to keep your website, feel free to ignore that last one. Personally, I choose to manually renew simply because I want to know when money is coming in and out of my bank account. The negative about that is if I’m unable to renew the account (for whatever reason) and it expires then the site will go down. As long as you have money in your bank account for automatic renewal your site will stay live. The renewal option can be changed at any time and are based on your preferences. With that, pick to your hearts content.
After you submit your renewal your site will return with all its content in its beautiful glory in a matter of minutes. Goodbye to the dark hole of account suspension!
If you’re like me at all then that means you’re forgetful. Knowing that you don’t always keep track of everything then you have to be one step ahead of your forgetfulness. To best overcome that, write the expiration date in your calendar and also in your phone. Set yourself a reminder a month in advance, a week in advance, and then note the actual expiration date. That way if you forget you’ll be reminded way in advance. Also, make sure to keep a close eye on your emails as Bluehost will keep you notified multiple times before the expiration happens (and even after it happens).
Renewing your web hosting is a relatively easy thing to do, but it can be easy to forget to do it. If you’re ever in the position where you may lose your hosting, make sure to reference this post so you know how you can get it back. It’s important to continuously stay up-to-date on paying for your site’s hosting so all your content can be readily available for your readers and visitors. You’ve worked really hard on everything you’ve done and it should be visible to all who love to see it, renewing your site on time does that and more!
