QR codes with your own domain: plan a .at address for printed materials
Use a .at address for QR codes on cards, posters or menus. Plan the destination, redirects, final print checks and ongoing domain costs before publishing.
Read guide ↗The essentials
Choose a restaurant domain people can understand and plan three clear destinations: viewing the menu, requesting a table and contacting the team. Check spelling and possible naming conflicts before registration. Then connect your existing website and required services; a domain alone supplies neither a menu nor a reservation system or mailboxes.
Choose a name guests can understand over the phone
Begin with the name guests see at the entrance, on receipts and in a spoken recommendation. Ask someone to type the proposed spelling after hearing it once. Pay particular attention to hyphens, umlauts and similar-sounding words. A .at address can suit a restaurant serving an Austrian audience; it does not replace a clear name. A cuisine or place-name addition should describe the actual business and remain useful after a modest change of concept. The pattern “restaurant name + cuisine” is a brainstorming aid, not a checked available domain. Compare a few usable candidates rather than many arbitrary combinations.
Find a .at domain for your restaurantCheck whether a hyphen helps the spellingPlan three guest journeys before ordering
Write down the actual destination for each task. Will the menu appear as a readable web page? Does the reservation route lead to a form, a phone number or an existing booking service? Where can guests find current opening hours and directions? These belong to the website and are not created by a DNS record. A short route to each task also makes an agency brief clearer. Plan an understandable response when a form is submitted. A table request should not accidentally look like an already confirmed reservation. Check who actually handles incoming enquiries as well.
| Guest task | Useful destination | Check before launch |
|---|---|---|
| View the menu | Readable menu page | Understandable on a small phone |
| Reserve a table | Clearly described enquiry or booking route | Request and confirmed reservation are distinct |
| Plan a visit | Contact details, directions and current hours | A designated person maintains changes |
Test the menu together with the table sign
Open the eventual menu page on an ordinary phone without signing in. Are the dishes and details readable at normal text size, or is the entire menu a tiny image? If you also offer a PDF, check its mobile presentation and the revision date within the content. An updated menu should not inadvertently sit alongside an obsolete version. Test the link from a printed proof of the table sign. Try different lighting and a little distance from the print. Registration confirms the domain; it does not automatically check the quality of your menu page.
Plan printed QR links with your own domain
Keep the address when the menu changes
Choose a durable route for printed links, such as the page path “/speisekarte”. Years or frequently changing filenames in a printed destination make later updates harder. W3C guidance on persistent web addresses supports this underlying principle. Agree with the website administrator how the current menu will remain available at that route. A redirect is a web-service task and is different from an A or CNAME record. After each change, test the exact printed destination including HTTPS. A working home page does not establish that an old menu link still works.
Distinguish a redirect from a DNS connectionProtect existing email and reservation delivery
If the restaurant already uses email, record its required DNS entries before a technical move. Do not replace every nameserver simply because you want to connect a new website. Depending on the existing setup, a targeted change to website records may be enough. Mailboxes, sending and reservation systems may depend on other settings. Copy their values from the actual instructions for each service. Afterwards, test an incoming message, a reply and a reservation request. A public website test alone cannot tell you whether the team receives bookings. You can manage DNS or use custom nameservers with us; we do not sell mailboxes or hosting.
Test website and email separatelyManage domain DNS and nameserversAgree responsibility for the account and daily operations
Record who maintains the domain account, who changes website content and who reads messages during service. These may be different people. The account contact address needs to remain reachable when an agency or employee changes. Do not pass passwords around on a note in the dining room or publish confirmation links in group chats. Keep a short handover record: domain, responsible person, website administrator, mail administrator and next review date. For holidays and closed days, check what response guests receive after requesting a table. Several contact addresses under one domain do not automatically require several domain registrations.
Understand mailboxes, aliases and multiple contact addressesOrganise domain control and agency access
Check availability and the total price deliberately
Search for the complete name and extension immediately before ordering. Austria’s public information portal explains availability lookups; nic.at makes clear that registration does not include checking possible third-party rights. An available result therefore does not replace name research. A new standard .at domain currently costs €12.99 total for the first year with us; renewal costs €15.99 total per additional year. New .at domains can alternatively have three years of prepaid coverage for €39.00 total: registration and two annual renewals without further payment. This saves €5.97 against €44.97 in annual payments at today’s prices. Hosting, mailboxes, transfers and existing renewals are excluded from this package.
Check your preferred restaurant domainReview current total prices and the included termWait for confirmation before ordering a large print run
After ordering, check registration status and any required email confirmations in your account. With prepaid coverage, the paid-through date and annually updated technical expiry are separate details. Arrange further renewals in good time after the included term at the price then offered; there is no automatic card charge. Connect the website and other services, verify HTTPS and test all three guest journeys again. Only then order the final table signs, vouchers and business cards. Keep a printed proof with its destination address. If you change the website later, it helps you retest the exact links still in use.
Work through the post-registration checklistFurther sourcesAustrian public information portal: your website and domain availability ↗W3C: planning durable web addresses ↗nic.at: domain availability does not replace rights checks ↗
