How to Create a QR Code for Business Card? | Business Card QR Code Generator

For efficiency, business cards have always been packed with important information – your name, job title, and contact details, within a small space. For this reason, it has become less popular nowadays when all of these can be easily searched online. But what if you can use your business card to show people more information?  

You can create a good impression as a professional who is serious about your business with the simple addition of a QR code to your business card. 

What is Business Card QR Code? 

A business card QR code is a QR code that’s placed on a business card to help your audience contact, communicate with or understand about your business. Since business cards are small, it’s hard to put in all the details your audience needs to know about your business. This is easily addressed by the addition of a QR code that can lead your audience to a website, social media account, your contact information, the location of your business, or any link where you can give more information. 

Benefits of QR Code for Business Card 

Before, people must prioritize what to put in the small space of a business card. But with QR codes, you can literally put an entire website containing more information compared to the traditional way of writing things on the card. This is the main use of adding a QR code to your business card. However, there are more benefits: 

Convenience 

While it’s true that you can easily just write your URL address on your business card, there are still some things to consider. Let’s admit it, we all hated typing in a long URL in the address bar. Sometimes, we might even miss a letter and enter a dodgy website by accident. However, with QR codes, we can skip this process. 

QR code can help automate the following processes for the people you give out your business card to: 

• Go to a link using the default browser 

• Send an email to the predetermined email address 

• Call or SMS to the encoded phone number 

• Save your contact details in their cellphone 

•  Send money via PayPal or Bitcoin 

• Send a message or call via WhatsApp or Skype 

Grow Your Social Media Following 

Before, social media is simply a place where we can connect with our friends and families. However, that isn’t the case anymore. A lot of jobs require that you have a huge social media following so people will more likely buy from you. 

This applies to influencers or even small businesses. Most customers and clients are likely to research someone on the internet. The more followers you have, the more likely people are going to trust you with their business. 

Of course, the number of people who will click the “Like” or “Follow” button still depends on your content, but it doesn’t hurt to advertise your social media accounts via your business card. By using QR codes this way, people can easily follow new updates about your business and easily contact you whenever they need. 

Easily Update Information 

In the old days, if you’ve handed out your business cards to people but for some reason, have to change the number, there is no easy way to update them of the changes. However, since you can create a dynamic QR code, it’ll be much easier to insert new information on it. 

This is beneficial to people who foresee they could be changing their contact numbers sometime in the future. Or, this can be used for resumes and work portfolios that you need to update often. With a dynamically designed QR code, you can keep up with all new information without the need to print out new business cards with your QR code. 

You can even set a static QR code that leads to a website that you can then update with all the things necessary. All of this can be done without changing the QR code. 

Encourages People to Act 

Call to action is almost everywhere in the marketing world. The reason is simple: it’s effective. People are more likely to check out your website if you’ve told them. You can put a simple call to action on the frame of your QR code to encourage people to contact you or visit your website.  

Track Leads and ROI 

Now on the more technical side, you can actually use your business card’s QR code to keep track of where people are getting your information. 

At first glance, knowing where the customers heard your business might not seem useful. But in reality, this will show you which marketing techniques are most effective in enticing new customers to visit your business. 

You can use different QR codes to see exactly which marketing efforts is the most effective. Then, you can spend your budget and effort on improving that one. 

Schedule An Appointment 

The main point of giving out your business card is to encourage other people to contact you. There are many ways to encourage people to do this using a QR code on your business card. You can create an email template that they can easily send or give them one of your profiles in any communication app where they can easily send you a message.   

Among the popular apps used for communication, Skype and WhatsApp are some of the best ones. Skype allows its users to send a message or directly call someone when a QR code is scanned. Meanwhile, you can craft a template message that can be sent to you with a WhatsApp QR code.  

Alternatively, you can also use Zoom. You must have a meeting ID before creating the QR code. Your clients can be directly transferred to your meeting room after scanning your business card.   

How to Make a QR Code for Business Card 

Creating a QR code is pretty easy, especially if you are using a free QR code generator like Make QR Code Now. You can fully customize everything and make sure that it is on-brand. Here’s a quick guide you can use to build your own QR code for your business. 

Step 1 – Decide What Your QR Code Will Feature 

Given the many uses of a QR code for business cards, you need to know what yours should do. It’s tempting to use more than one, but you need to remember that the space in a business card is also limited. Plus, for aesthetic purposes and convenience, it is recommended to only put one on your card. At most, if truly necessary, you can put another QR code at the back. 

Because of this, you should prioritize what’s on the QR code. The best one to choose is the one that you’ll need for a longer period of time and yield the best results. For example, freelancers can choose between contact information or work portfolio. Meanwhile, for online retail businesses, directing your customers to your promotions or discounts page might be more beneficial. 

Step 2 – Enter The Data 

The data that you should enter depends on the type of QR code you chose to create. Make QR Code Now has a very intuitive design that allows you to easily type in all the information needed when creating the QR code. Below is the type of QR codes you are likely to create for your business card. 

Links 

All you need to input is the URL of the link you want to go to. Be sure to input the proper address. This can automatically lead people to scan your QR code towards a specific site through their default browser. 

This can be used to lead people towards: 

• The landing page of your website 

• Your social media account 

• Online resume 

• Work portfolio hosted on a website 

• Shopping page of your business 

Basically, anything that is on the internet can be put here. You can even upload an image and get its URL and people will be able to see it. Just make sure that the URL is up and running.  

E-mail 

As mentioned previously, you can create an email template that people can use to send you an inquiry about your business. This is mostly used for getting a price quotation or setting up a schedule to discuss details. 

You need to input the following: 

• Your email address 

• Subject of the message 

• Message 

For the email address, you need to input your own email address since you’ll be the one receiving the message. Furthermore, since you’ll probably be receiving tons of emails, the subject should be short and concise. For example, for price quotations, you can put “Price Quotation Inquiry” and for an interview, you can put “Schedule an Interview.” 

By setting the subject, you can do a quick search on your own inbox to see if people have scanned your QR code recently. On your own email, you can also create an autoreply for the inquiries you receive with the same subject line as your QR code’s generated email. Through this, people will easily get the information they need because everything’s automated. 

Location 

Another nifty way to use QR codes in a business card is to encode your physical location. Make QR Code Now offers two ways of encoding your address. 

The first way is to search your location by typing in your address and use the mini-map to get the exact location. If you can’t find your location, you can also input the latitude and longitude of your location.  

Skype 

Skype is still one of the leading communication apps in the world. A lot of people use this for business purposes. All you need to input is your username, and you can direct your contacts to either send you a message or call you. It makes it much more convenient for people to have an online meeting with you. 

Step 3 – Customize the QR Code (Optional) 

You will probably design your business card to match your company’s brand. This means you need to match the color palette and font of your business card. By doing this, you can increase brand awareness and make your business more memorable to your target customers. 

Color 

In Make QR Code Now, you can use any color for the QR code itself. To make it easier to put in your business card, you can use the default black color, which is easily accessible in the menu. If you plan on putting the QR code into more than one design, it’s best to use a transparent background. 

Design 

But aside from that, you can also customize the design of your QR code. You can change the pattern, marker border, and marker center to make it look more cohesive with the design of your business card. You can mix and match and see which will look best on the design of your business card. 

Logo 

Another way to increase brand awareness is to put a logo on the QR code. This will be placed at the center of your QR code to make the design look much better. In Make QR Code Now, there are different preset icons you can use. If your QR code leads to a location or a URL, there are designated icons you can use. If the QR code leads to your website, you can also use your own business logo by simply uploading it. 

Frame 

It’s totally optional, but if you want, you can use a frame to make the design of your QR code more coherent. There’s a lot of frames you can use and you can easily find one that you like. Furthermore, you can also change the frame color to what you want. 

In the frame, you can also add a simple text that gives the user an idea of what will be on the QR code. Typically, people just put “Scan Me” to encourage people to check out the code. However, you can be more creative with what you can write. 

• “Follow Me” for a social media account 

• “Buy Now” for retail stores 

• “Inquire Now” to send an email or schedule an interview 

There are tons of other calls to action you can write to encourage people to scan the QR code. Just make sure that you keep it short and simple to fit the frame. 

Options 

After customizing your QR code the way you want it, it’s time to deal with the technical side of things. You can choose the size of your QR code. With business cards, you can get away with a small one. But if you plan on using the QR code for other things, it’s better to choose a bigger size and you can just resize it on your own later on. 

Step 4 – Download and Test 

Now that you’ve created your QR code, all you need to do is download it and test if it works. You can save the QR code as a PNG or SVG file or print it if your device is linked to a printer. Since it is to be use on a business card, you can download it in PNG format. For testing, make sure that everything is working and that you’ve put the correct details. If there is a mistake, you can easily adjust the settings of your QR code and test the new one. 

How Does a QR Code for Business Card Work? 

Most phones default camera will have automatic QR Code scanning on them these days. You might have to adjust a setting to turn on the automatic code reader. If the camera doesn’t detect the QR code, you can download a third-party QR code scanner to scan the QR code.    

As mentioned earlier, there are various type of QR codes that can be used for a business. Hence how it would work depends on the type of QR code created. For example, a phone number QR code will make a call while a vCard QR code allows you to save the contact details. 

How to Use QR Code on Business Card? 

There are multiple ways you can use a QR code on your business card. Depending on the nature of your business and your goal in mind, here are just a few of the things you can create. 

vCard 

Business cards have always been used to give out your contact information. But to make it more convenient, it will be much more convenient to save all your contact details just by clicking the “Save” button. 

A vCard QR code generated for a business card can have the following information: 

• Title or honorifics 

• First name 

• Last name 

• Phone (home) 

• Phone (mobile) 

• Phone (office) 

• E-mail address 

• Website (URL) 

• Company 

• Job Title 

•  Address 

Gone are the days where people are too lazy to input all of the information mentioned above. Sometimes, they might even save a few contacts without entering the data about the company and job title, making them forgot who the contacts are after sitting in their phonebook for a while. 

However, if you’ve encoded all of this information in your QR code for your business card, your number will definitely not be deleted simply because people forgot why you’re in their phonebooks. You are also giving them more options to contact you. Aside from that, having complete details about you looks far more professional. 

Social Media Accounts 

As mentioned before, you can use the QR code to direct people to your social media accounts to increase your following. 

You can simply use the URL of one of your social media accounts and use it for your QR code. Since your business might have more than one social media account, you should choose the one you use most often to update your customers. 

Most people choose a Facebook page, since there is an easy follow and message button that can be convenient for most people. There is also a review page where people can easily see what other people think about your business. 

Send a Text Message or E-mail 

While modern technology does make it easier for us to connect with people, we still find it difficult to craft the perfect professional message to send to someone else. You can make it easier for other people to send you a message by creating a QR code and putting it on your business card. 

You can craft a template message into the QR code yourself. For example, if you’re anticipating that people will ask for a price quotation, then you can write the template stating the intention. When you received this message, you automatically know what it means. 

The template message can easily be edited by the other person. They can do so to add more information about their inquiries before hitting the “Send” button. 

Scheduling an Appointment 

Another thing you might want is for people to schedule an appointment with you so that you can encourage them to do business together. This can apply in any industry that requires you to get more clients.  

There are multiple ways you can pull this off. You can create a QR code that leads to an online scheduler. Alternatively, you can use a QR code to generate an email template where the other person can schedule an appointment or meeting with you. 

Easy Payment Method 

If you’re in an industry where it requires payment all the time, having a convenient way to send you the money is definitely a plus to your clients. 

This can work for people in the freelancing industry, among others. For most freelancers, you get paid every time you finish your work, and thus, it’s much more convenient for your clients to pay you by simply scanning the QR code on your business card. 

QR codes can directly go to PayPal. Furthermore, you can dictate the base price of your products. All your client needs to do is to confirm the transaction. 

Online Resume and Work Portfolio 

If you have the capability to provide more information in such a small square, then why not go all out and create an online resume that includes every detail that people should know? For freelancers or job hunters, it is absolutely necessary to have a work portfolio. This does not only apply to artists, interior designers, or other jobs that typically require a professional portfolio. 

You can get a website and put everything you need to show your client. This works especially for industries where your work can’t be printed on paper like video editors or musicians. You don’t need to spend much money to create one, as there’s a lot of free hosting websites online you can use. 

Map Location 

Having a physical location can offer its pros and cons. You need to have a very visible location to get more customers to visit you. This is a problem, especially when people would rather get things online. However, it is not an option for a lot of industries. 

Suppose your business involves an escape room or it’s a shooting range or even just a simple restaurant. A physical location is absolutely necessary for these businesses. You can help your customers find your place by simply putting a QR code with a map location on your business card. 

Business Card QR Code Generator 

Make QR Code Now is easily one of the best QR code generators online. You can create a range of free QR codes (URL, text, vCard, and more) with a lot of customizable options. The customization process is seamless, and you can generate a QR code that can fit the visual aesthetic of your print or digital media. It’s time to get on with the modern times by making your own QR code for free. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

How to Add QR Code to Business Card? 

The QR code image you’ll put on your business card needs to be crisp and clear so that QR code scanners can easily detect it. When downloading the QR code, you can use different formats such as SVG or PNG. However, it’s best to use SVG, especially if you plan to use the QR code on your business card. SVG images are easily scalable, and the QR code will not lose its quality even if you resize it. 

You can use various design software, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, to design your business card. Since you want your design to look crisp and clear, it might be better if you use a vector-based software such as Illustrator. But if you’re more familiar with other design software, feel free to use them instead. If you have no knowledge of any of the design software mentioned, you can even use an online graphic designing platform such as Canva.  

What is the Minimum Size for QR Code on Business Card? 

Ideally, it should not be smaller than 2×2 cm (0.8×0.8 in) for a QR code reader to scan. Since you need to put it on a business card, it should be small. However, it should be so small that a camera can’t differentiate the pixels. 

Do QR Codes Expire? 

QR codes do not expire. People might be worried that their QR code might expire, and people will be left with a meaningless square of pixels. Well, you have nothing to worry about. They will always give out the information you want. 

However, dynamic QR codes can be made to expire. You can set it up so that it will stop redirecting after a predetermined number of scans or end date. This is especially useful for people who are using the QR codes for special giveaways or promotions that are limited to the first few people who scan or should expire at a certain date.