Short answer: When a domain expires, your website and company email stop together; when an SSL certificate expires, browsers show a "not secure" warning and most visitors leave. Domain renewal costs about NT$400–1,000 a year, and SSL can be free with automatic renewal. Set up auto-pay and expiry alerts and you avoid paying thousands of NT$ to redeem a domain.
An air-conditioning service company woke up to a flood of calls: customers said the website wouldn't load and emails were bouncing. It turned out the domain was tied to a former employee's credit card, which had expired, so the renewal failed and the domain lapsed 30 days earlier. Recovering it through the registrar cost thousands of NT$ extra plus a week of lost online inquiries. This happens more often than you'd think.
Fixed costs after launch: domain, hosting, SSL, maintenance
A live website has at least four recurring costs, and domain renewal and SSL are the easiest to forget.
- Domain: your site's address, renewed yearly; unpaid, it stops resolving.
- Hosting: where the site files live, paid monthly or yearly.
- SSL certificate: gives you https and the padlock, with a fixed validity period.
- Maintenance: updates, backups, monitoring and small changes, done in-house or outsourced.
Domain renewal and SSL costs at a glance
For a typical SMB site, domain plus SSL usually costs NT$400–3,000 a year.
| Item | Typical cost (per year) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| .com domain renewal | About NT$400–800 | Varies by registrar and exchange rate |
| .com.tw / .tw domain renewal | About NT$800–1,000 | Through registrars accredited by TWNIC |
| Free SSL certificate | NT$0 | e.g. Let's Encrypt, valid 90 days, needs auto-renewal |
| Paid SSL (DV/OV) | About NT$1,500–15,000 | Only when you need organization validation or warranty |
| Expired domain redemption | Often thousands of NT$ | Only possible during the redemption period, far above normal renewal |
| ScriptWalker website maintenance | From NT$2,000/month | Includes domain and SSL expiry monitoring, backups and updates |
The real risks of not maintaining them
Domain and SSL failures affect all of your company's outside communication, not just the website.
- Website and email go down together: company mail usually uses the same domain, so customer emails bounce.
- Domain snapped up: after the redemption period, someone else can register it for ads or even scam pages.
- Browser warnings: with an expired certificate, Chrome shows "Your connection is not private," and almost everyone leaves.
- Shorter validity: industry rules are cutting maximum SSL validity in stages, to about 200 days from 2026 and shorter later, so manual renewal will eventually be missed.
- Search and trust: Google favors https sites, and a broken certificate hurts trust and conversions.
Manage it yourself or outsource maintenance?
With one site and a dedicated owner, you can manage it yourself; otherwise a maintenance provider is safer.
- DIY fits when: domain and hosting are in the company's name, someone owns the task, and auto-renewal and card expiry reminders are set.
- Outsource when: you have several domains or sites, the responsible person changes often, the site has members or payments, or you're not sure SSL auto-renews.
- Either way: the domain registrant and admin account must be in the company's name, not a vendor's or an individual's.
10-minute domain and SSL check:
- ☐ The domain registrant is the company, not a person or vendor
- ☐ You know the registrar and have the login
- ☐ Auto-renewal is on and the card is valid
- ☐ Expiry notices go to a shared company inbox
- ☐ SSL auto-renews and expiry is monitored
FAQ
Can an expired domain be recovered?
Usually, within the redemption period. Most registrars allow about 30 days, at a much higher fee.
Are free SSL certificates safe?
Yes. Encryption matches paid DV certificates; the differences are shorter validity and no warranty.
How often must SSL be renewed?
Every 90 days for free certificates. Paid validity is shrinking too, so always enable auto-renewal.
Can I renew a domain for several years at once?
Yes. Most domains can be prepaid up to 10 years, lowering the risk of forgetting.
Let a monthly maintenance plan handle renewals
ScriptWalker (a Taiwan-based Laravel/Flutter custom development studio) offers website maintenance from NT$2,000 a month, covering domain and SSL expiry monitoring, auto-renewal setup, daily backups and security updates, and we help move domains back into your company's name. For a free domain and SSL check:
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 0916-224-047
- LINE: @ufv9089p