My domain is offline, but WHOIS says it expires next year. Why?

WHOIS can be a confusing tool to use when debugging expired domains as it requires some knowledge of how the global registration system ties together.

In general, when most types of domains (like COM, NET and ORG) expire the domain is temporarily renewed. This is temporary. This temporary renewal will be removed if the domain is not renewed or transferred, which will result in the domain going into a status known as the "REDEMPTIONPERIOD" or "Pending Delete- Restorable". It may also be deleted outright, depending on the type of domain.

With some types of domains, you can confirm that the domain is expired by taking note of the expiration month and day. If you have passed this date, and the domain is offline, it has expired.

Please note that it may take 24 hours for some types of domains to come online once they have been renewed, and WHOIS will unfortunately not indicate if it was renewed.