Today we received a call from a Google Apps account holder with issues reaching Google in order to renew their domain which was purchased with Google Apps.

We’ve always recommended that anyone signing up for a domain name should go directly to the registrar. Using a reputable and preferred registrar is CRITICAL to trouble free domain name ownership.

We recommend that anyone wanting to register new domains (or transfer existing domains) use NameCheap.com. We’ve been using NameCheap as long as I can remember, having previously used GoDaddy for all domain name registrations. Why, you may ask? Well, NameCheap.com offers one of the simplest and fastest control panels around. They don’t clutter up the process with products and services you may or may not need. They make it very simple to get in, buy, and secure your domain name. Plus, they are always offering coupon codes to cut the cost down even further.

Back to Google Domain Name registration and renewals. If the domain name renewal is longer than 15 days from expiration, I suggest you do a domain name transfer to NameCheap. Start your domain name transfer here.

If your domain is within that time period (< 15 days), you will have to renew with Google (actually, eNom). They make it fairly difficult to find the information you need, but here is a quick excerpt that should help:

If you do not renew domain registration within the 19-day window of opportunity, your domain name will be ‘vaulted’ by the registrar company (GoDaddy.com or eNom.com). A ‘vaulted’ domain name is not publicly available for registration, nor can it be redeemed without additional charges.

To recover a ‘vaulted’ domain, you must contact the registrar company to re-obtain the domain at an additional fee of $89 for GoDaddy.com and $160 for eNom.com. You can find contact information for Godaddy.com or eNom.com in the Advanced DNS settings section of the control panel.

You can reach eNom.com support via email at googleclients@enom.com, or via phone at 425-974-4623. These channels are dedicated to Google Apps administrators who registered a domain with eNom during the signup process.

If you get stuck on any of the above issues, feel free to give us a call. We’re always happy to help!