Uptime
Global uptime and slow-response baselines for host reality.
Monitor list · Beyond renewals
What to monitor besides domain expiration.
Expiration alerts keep names alive. Businesses still lose traffic when uptime fails, SSL lapses, DNS drifts, or pages return 200 while checkout is dead. Here is the practical list beyond renewals, mapped to signals Aepto can put in one Attention queue.
By Muhammad Hamza, Founder of AeptoPublished Updated
The list operators actually need
One inventory. Multiple failure classes. Same triage home.
Teams that only watch expiration discover the gap during an outage that never touched the registry. The domain was paid. The site was not usable. Customers do not care which layer failed.
Besides expiration, monitor these
- 01 Availability and slow response across regions
- 02 SSL certificate windows
- 03 DNS and registrar baseline drift (Theft Guard)
- 04 Page body failures on revenue URLs (paid Content Monitoring)
- 05 Cost and renewal intent across the portfolio
- 06 Optional: status pages for client communication
How each signal maps to Aepto
Each signal, and the Aepto feature that covers it.
SSL
Certificate monitoring before browsers warn.
DNS / theft signals
Theft Guard for unexpected NS and registrar moves.
Paid
Content
Content Monitoring when 200 OK is a liar.
Cost
Expenses so renewals are intentional.
Watch lists
Domain Watch for names you do not own yet (status only).
Expiration still matters. It is not the whole job.
Free includes core signals within domain limits. Content Monitoring and webhooks are paid unlocks. Aepto is not only an uptime ping tool.
What should you monitor besides expiry dates?
Expiry is one line in the list. These are the others, and what each one costs when missed.
| Signal | What breaks if you miss it | How Aepto checks it |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime | Site or API unreachable | Uptime checks from 1 region every 10 minutes on Free; 4 regions on Professional and 6 on Business and Agency, checking as often as every minute |
| SSL certificate | Browser warnings stop visitors | Expiry checks on each monitor |
| DNS records | Web or mail quietly points elsewhere | DNS change history and change emails |
| Registrar and nameservers | Control moves without a notice you see | Theft Guard baselines: daily on Free and Starter, twice daily on Professional and above |
| Page content | HTTP 200 with a white screen or database error | Content Monitoring, paid plans |
| Response time | Slow enough to lose sales, never slow enough to time out | Slow Response alerts against the site's own baseline |
| Renewal cost | Surprise bills and zombie renewals | Expenses and budgets |
| Names you don't own | A name you want changes status | Domain Watch, 5 names on Free |
How do you roll this out without boiling the ocean?
Sequence beats perfection.
- Week 1Inventory and the basics
Import every domain. Turn on uptime and SSL for production names and confirm renewal reminders arrive.
- Week 2Control
Lock names at the registrar, turn on 2FA, and check that Theft Guard baselines look right.
- Week 3Depth
Add Content Monitoring to the revenue pages that have failed before, and webhooks if email is too quiet.
- Every quarterReview the list
New products, subdomains and registrars appear faster than anyone documents them.
Which deadlines are getting shorter?
Expiry is not the only clock running.
~30 and ~7 days
before expiry: when registrars must send renewal reminders for generic TLDs, to the registrant email on file
Source: ICANN ERRP
398 → 47 days
maximum lifetime of public TLS certificates, cut in steps from March 2026 to March 2029
Source: CA/Browser Forum SC-081
5,000 a day
senders above this to Gmail must have SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place (since February 2024)
Source: Google Workspace Admin Help
Common questions
Is expiration monitoring enough?
No. Sites go down, certificates lapse, DNS drifts, and pages break while the name remains paid. Expiration is necessary, not sufficient.
What should be on the minimum list?
Uptime (ideally multi-region), SSL windows, DNS/registrar baseline alerts, renewal reminders, and a triage queue. Add Content Monitoring on paid for body-level failures.
Where do expenses fit?
Cost and budget visibility stop surprise renewals and help decide which names deserve spend. See domain expense tracking.
Do we need a separate status tool?
Not necessarily. Aepto status pages can ride the same monitors for client-facing updates while Attention stays private.
What about names we do not own yet?
Domain Watch sends status alerts for names on your watch list. Buying a name stays your decision at a registrar.
What sits beside expiration?
Multi-region uptime, SSL, DNS integrity, ownership/Theft Guard signals, PageSpeed thresholds, and Content Monitoring for soft failures on paid plans.
Why is expiration-only monitoring incomplete?
Names can be "renewed" and still hijacked, slow, or serving database errors. Expiration is necessary; it is not the whole risk surface.
Watch more than the renewal date.
Import domains free. Put every signal in one Attention queue.