Thanks to more favourable conditions, more and more businesses see their future in Western countries. Austria is particularly popular in this respect, and it is a good idea to adapt your business website to it as well, by way of a .at domain registration.

The .at domain is simply Austria’s official domain extension, just like the .hu extension in Hungary. It is not only ideal for Austrian businesses: organisations, private individuals and public institutions use it too.

If you want to present your business as a serious organisation on the Austrian market, registering a .at domain is essential, as having an extension that matches the target country also makes search engine optimisation easier.

So what do you need to know if you want to register an Austrian domain name for yourself? In this article we have gathered the most important facts on the subject.

What is a .at domain?

As mentioned in the introduction, the .at domain is a ccTLD (country code top-level domain) that specifically represents Austria as a country on the internet.

When a website’s name ends in the .at extension, you can tell straight away that the business, individual or organisation behind it is connected to Austria or wants to succeed there.

Requirements for .at domain registration

Although some domain names have geographical restrictions, so that only citizens or residents of the country concerned can register them, this is not the case with .at domains.

Anyone can register an Austrian domain name. There are of course conditions, but they are far less strict than many people think. Let’s look at the most important rules:

Who can register a .at domain?

The most important thing to know here is that you do not need Austrian citizenship to register, but when registering you must comply with the country’s laws in this respect. For foreign nationals, this usually means an extra step.

If the applicant for a .at domain is not an Austrian citizen, or, as a business, does not have a company registered there, they need a contact person.

The contact person can also be a private individual; what matters is that they have an Austrian address. This is required so that the authorities can reach the domain name holder through them, which can be very important if anyone has to be held accountable.

Since many people want their own .at domain because their business is already registered in Austria, they probably already have an Austrian accountant or contact person, so in the vast majority of cases this is far less of a hurdle than many would think.

What rules apply to Austrian domain names?

Broadly speaking, .at domain registration is subject to rules similar to those for Hungarian domains. The most important points are:

• A .at domain name can be at least 2 and at most 63 characters long.
• It can contain letters, numbers and hyphens, but a hyphen cannot be used at the beginning or end of the domain, nor can two hyphens appear one after the other.
• Of course, all Hungarian accented letters must be replaced with unaccented ones when registering (which is also recommended for .hu domains).

Watch out for protected and prohibited terms when registering a .at domain

As with Hungarian domains, prohibited and protected terms are taken very seriously in Austria, so you need to consider them carefully when registering.

There are protected terms among .at domain names too, such as brand names, geographical names or the names of well-known people.

In addition, it is always forbidden to register a domain name that contains or refers to certain terms and for some reason violates Austrian law.

The .at domain registration process

Because a foreign country is involved, many people think .at domain registration is cumbersome or complicated, whereas today the process is remarkably simple – especially if you have found the right registrar for it.

Registration is a process of several steps, so we go through what you need to know below:

1. Find a suitable registrar

To register a .at domain, you need an accredited registrar that works with nic.at, the organisation that manages Austrian domains and is responsible for the name registry. A registrar is a service provider that acts as an intermediary, helping you complete the process simply, easily and quickly – in your own language, of course.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to choose an Austrian registrar, as there are Hungarian registrars today that handle the registration, renewal and management of these domains.

If you would also like an Austrian domain name, click the following link: .at domain registration.

2. Choose the right domain name

Besides the right registrar, it is very important to choose the right .at domain name. To do so, you must follow the criteria described above; otherwise the registration will fail and the launch of your website will be needlessly delayed.

If you want to check whether the .at domain you have in mind is still available, the best option is the official and always up-to-date search of the Austrian registry, nic.at: check a .at domain name.

3. Apply for the domain name you have chosen

You apply for a .at domain name through the registrar by filling in a registration form, which must include a range of details.

Besides your name, address and contact details, a business also needs to give its name and tax number, and if the applicant is not an Austrian citizen, the name and address of the contact person must also be given on the form.

4. Pay for the domain name

After registration, you have to pay for the .at domain name as well. This is also done through the registrar, and the cost may vary by provider and by the type, and even more so the number, of domains.

5. Confirm the domain name registration

Once the registrar has submitted the domain name registration and you have paid the fees, the registration must be confirmed – usually by clicking a link received by email. After that, the domain can be used straight away.

Benefits of a .at domain

We have already mentioned that a .at domain has many benefits for a business that wants to gain a foothold in the Austrian market. Of course, this is not impossible with a .hu domain either, but an Austrian web address has advantages in several respects:

Credibility

If you want to do business in Austria, a .at domain is very important for credibility, as it shows future buyers and customers that you play by local legal and ethical rules.

In the same way, when shopping in Hungary, most people prefer to browse a shop running on a domain name ending in .hu.

Regional presence

Only a .at domain gives a business a so-called regional presence, so that it truly belongs to the market and customers and competitors alike see it as an equal partner rather than an outsider.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

Of course, from a search engine optimisation point of view it is also extremely important that a business or site that wants to succeed in Austria is hosted on a domain with the .at extension.

With a .hu domain or another extension you can never compete with Austrian rivals, and however well optimised your site is, search engines will not rank it as highly if it does not use a .at extension.

How do you renew a .at domain name?

Renewing a .at domain is just as easy as renewing a .hu domain in Hungary, especially if you went through a Hungarian registrar.

Like registration, renewal also comes with a fee. It is usually charged annually, and you should pay on time, because if a .at domain is not renewed, it is deleted and may end up in the hands of someone else – even a competitor.

How much does .at domain registration cost?

The price of .at domain registration varies from registrar to registrar, but there are providers – aWh.hu among them – where a new registration costs €13.33 and renewal €13.33 a year (prices exclude VAT).

Can a .at domain name be transferred to someone else?

Like domains with other extensions, a .at domain can be transferred to another party, such as a business or a private individual. This happens in a procedure similar to registration, on condition that the new holder also complies with the relevant Austrian rules.

During the transfer, the holder must confirm the intention to transfer, after which the process starts; it is usually completed within a few working days.

This is also particularly important if you need to buy a .at domain name that someone else registered before you but does not use, so that it can be taken over.

Does a .at domain name need Austrian web hosting?

Many people wonder whether, if they register a domain with the Austrian extension, they also need to pair it with Austrian web hosting.

Of course not: for the domain extension it makes no difference which country the hosting that stores the website’s data or handles the email comes from, so you can safely look at the offers of Hungarian hosting providers. What is more, most registrars can provide web hosting as well.

There is no disadvantage at all in pairing a .at domain registration with web hosting from a Hungarian provider.

How can I cancel a .at domain?

A very important point about cancelling a .at domain is that if you no longer need it, nic.at requires a written request.

So it is not enough simply not to renew the .at domain, that is, not to pay the invoice: a cancellation notice must always be sent to nic.at, no later than 30 days before the renewal date.

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