Lost Access to the Domain

[vivekrpatel]

Unfortunately last week our client lost access to the domain. There has been some difficulty in getting direct access to that domain and now it is suspended due to a lack of ICANN contact verification.

We are deeply concerned about the SEO loss of losing such an old domain with so many pages / so much unique content and in the event, we cannot get access to that domain again to setup redirects, we are starting from essentially zero on the SEO front.

I wanted to know how we can begin start to claim back as much of that ranking as possible on the new domain. And, what could be the steps that we need to take quickly from an SEO perspective.

They have huge daily traffic which is around 55k.

Quick suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Conor Treacy]

When you say "ICANN contact verification" was that with the domain registrar itself or something else? Normally the domain wouldn't go offline unless it was unpaid.

If you're having trouble with your domain registrar company and they no longer want to assist you, you can escalate it to ICANN directly but that's a long process. If you know who the upstream provider is for your domain you can always go that route.

We've had clients register domains through their web designer, who later goes out of business. The domain is in their reseller control panel at Enom, ResellerClub, GoDaddy, etc - but if you submit owner information to the upstream (GoDaddy) then they'll transfer the domain into your control. Be aware this means providing business licenses or other information to verify your contact information and that you're the rightful owner.

The first step is to contact the domain provider that they worked with, plead the case and then go through to the next step.

 

[vivekrpatel]

When you say "ICANN contact verification" was that with the domain registrar itself or something else? Normally the domain wouldn't go offline unless it was unpaid.

If you're having trouble with your domain registrar company and they no longer want to assist you, you can escalate it to ICANN directly but that's a long process. If you know who the upstream provider is for your domain you can always go that route.

We've had clients register domains through their web designer, who later goes out of business. The domain is in their reseller control panel at Enom, ResellerClub, GoDaddy, etc - but if you submit owner information to the upstream (GoDaddy) then they'll transfer the domain into your control. Be aware this means providing business licenses or other information to verify your contact information and that you're the rightful owner.

The first step is to contact the domain provider that they worked with, plead the case and then go through to the next step.

Hey @Conor Treacy

Great information, really appreciate it.

Somehow the website is working we don't know how it is happned.