A .at domain for sole traders in Austria
Which .at address suits your Austrian sole trader business? Choose a name, budget for registration and renewal, and connect your website and business email.
Read guide ↗The essentials
Choose a durable shop address and check whether your planned shop subscription supports an externally registered domain before buying it. Separate domain charges, shop operation and email. Then connect the address using your shop service’s instructions and check HTTPS, product pages, the ordering journey and messages before launch.
1. Choose a name for the business beyond its first promotion
A short discount campaign may change; the address on packaging and customer receipts should last longer. Test a name with two questions: will someone understand it over the phone, and will it still suit a larger product range? For a shop with an Austrian focus, .at is a natural country address, but neither a ranking promise nor a restriction on delivery countries. Search for the complete name including its extension and check the spelling in the result. Domain availability does not confirm your right to use someone else’s trademark. Research existing names separately before printing labels or commissioning advertising.
Check your shop name with a short naming checklistPlan a domain for your business2. Check domain connection in the shop subscription you plan to use
Open the shop system’s connection instructions before choosing a subscription. Does the selected plan support your own externally registered domain? Which address will be the main one, and who configures its certificate? A temporary project address supplied by the shop service is not automatically your own domain. Buying a domain also does not provide product management, basket software or payment processing. Record these separate tasks and costs. You can then register the domain at atdomain.at and connect a suitable service without ordering hosting alongside it. An existing website may need a different connection plan from an entirely new shop.
Understand domain registration separately from hosting3. Compare domain charges with the other shop costs
A standard new .at domain at atdomain.at currently costs €12.99 total price for the first year. Renewal costs €15.99 total price per additional year. Three years cost €44.97 in total, assuming unchanged prices. The table separates that domain charge from other possible expenses; it is not a complete price for your online shop. Obtain the applicable terms for shop software, payment processing and mailboxes from the relevant services. Include one-off setup or agency work if you commission it. Compare recurring charges with recurring charges rather than mistaking a limited introductory offer for the later ongoing cost of running the project.
| Cost item | What to compare |
|---|---|
| .at domain | €12.99 total price for year one; renewal €15.99 total price per additional year |
| Shop software and operation | Plan, domain connection and included functions |
| Payment processing | Applicable contract terms and transaction charges |
| Mailboxes and setup | Separate mail and working-time costs as needed |
4. Connect the correct name in the active DNS zone
Decide whether the shop will use the main domain, www or a subdomain such as shop. A subdomain is a name beneath your registered address, not a second domain registration. Use the current connection values from your own shop project: depending on the service, these might include A, AAAA or CNAME records. With our default nameservers, edit DNS in your atdomain.at account; with custom nameservers, edit the active zone there. An entry in the wrong place will not connect the shop. Save existing settings and avoid changing working mail records merely because the website needs a new connection.
Distinguish A records and CNAMEs when connecting servicesUnderstand a shop subdomain5. Check the main address and HTTPS before inviting visitors
Have the shop service confirm the intended main address and provide suitable HTTPS configuration there. The certificate must match the hostname being contacted. Check the other version with or without www as well if visitors may use it. A DNS record alone creates neither a certificate nor a browser redirect. Open a publicly available product page using the intended address and view it on a smartphone too. If a certificate warning appears, stop that check rather than bypassing it. Record the observation and affected address so that the shop service can investigate the specific problem before you invite customers.
Choose a main address with or without www6. Separate a support mailbox from automated shop messages
An address for customer enquiries and the sending of automated order messages are different tasks. Establish which service provides the mailbox and which sends messages from the shop. Existing email will not necessarily survive DNS changes simply because the homepage remains reachable. Preserve the required MX and TXT records, and take any additional sending instructions only from the responsible service’s current documentation. atdomain.at does not currently sell email mailboxes or hosting. Budget for those services separately and subsequently check both the arrival of a customer enquiry and the intended sending of shop messages. Record who can investigate each side.
Use your own domain for emailCheck website and mail connections separately7. Test the customer journey using the documented test tools
Start on an actual product page rather than only on the homepage. Can visitors select variants, add an item to the basket and read the information on a narrow screen? For payment and order tests, use the documented test functions of your shop system and payment service. Check success, errors and the return to the shop, together with the intended confirmations. Write down the expected result for each step rather than treating one screen as proof of the full journey. Also check older product links if the shop previously used another address. A domain change should not send those links indiscriminately to an unsuitable homepage.
8. Prepare customer information, responsibilities and the launch date
A suitable address and HTTPS do not replace clear information about the business. Check whether contact options, delivery information and costs can be found where customers need them. Austria’s business service portal provides further guides on shop systems, payment methods, customer service and legal responsibilities. Work through those topics for your own offering before launch. Also record who handles the domain account, technical connection and ongoing renewal. Review the handover notes when the technical contact changes. Once the shop service and responsibilities are settled, search for the address you want and prepare .at registration with the correct holder details.
Search for the right .at shop addressAssign holder, billing and technical-access responsibilitiesFind help connecting your domainFurther sourcesAustrian business portal: guides to building an online shop ↗Austrian ICT security portal: trustworthy online shops ↗RFC 1034: aliases in DNS ↗RFC 9525: hostnames and TLS certificates ↗
