How Do I Keep Track of My Website Renewals?

How do I keep track of my website renewals?

Write them down. One list, about ten minutes of work, and it makes most fake renewal emails obvious the second they show up.

That sounds almost too simple. But when somebody emailed our clients pretending to be me in September 2026 and asked for $450 in "renewals," the people who had to stop and wonder were the ones who didn't know what they actually pay for their website. The ones who knew didn't blink.

What goes on the list?

For each piece of your website, write down who you pay, about how much, and about when it renews.

• Your domain name. The yourbusiness.com part. It usually renews once a year.
• Your hosting. Where the website actually lives. Sometimes it's bundled with the domain and sometimes it isn't.
• The website itself. A builder subscription, a maintenance plan, or nothing at all if you bought it outright.
• Your email. If your email address ends in your own domain, somebody is hosting it, and it can be a completely different company from the website.
• Anything else that bills you for the site. Online forms, a booking tool, a store add-on.

Put the login email next to each one too. Half the battle, when something really does need renewing, is remembering which account it's under.

How does the list help with scam emails?

When a renewal email shows up, hold it up against the list. Is it from a company that's on there? Is it about the right amount, around the right time of year? If the answer to any of that is no, you don't have to puzzle out whether it's real. Call the company that IS on your list, at the number you already have.

Why is it spread across so many companies in the first place?

Usually because it happened one piece at a time. Somebody registered the domain years ago, the website got built later by somebody else, and email got added when you hired your first employee. Nothing wrong with any of that, it just means nobody ended up with the whole picture.

That's a big reason we set Aggieland up the way we did. For most of our clients we take care of the domain, the website and the hosting all in one place, and for about half of them email too. We renew it all for them, so there's nothing for them to keep track of, and the rule is short: if anybody but us emails you about renewing any of it, it's fake.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find out who my domain is registered with?

Look your domain up at lookup.icann.org. It shows the registrar, the company your domain is with, even when the owner's personal details are hidden.

What happens if my domain expires?

Your website and your email can both stop working, and after a grace period somebody else can register the name. That's why the renewal date is worth having on paper.

How often should I update the list?

Any time something changes, plus a quick look once a year. It's not a big job once it exists.

What if I'm not sure a renewal notice is real?

Call the company at a number you already have, not one from the email. If the notice says it's from us, call me.

Let's talk

If you'd like help figuring out who you're paying for what, call me at 979-217-1544.

Tom Bruch has built websites since 1998 and is the owner of Aggieland Website Design.