QR codes

What they are

Scan the QR code on the right to read a secret message --->

Quick Response (QR) codes are 2-dimensional matrix bar-codes which can be read by smart-phones. The code is a square pattern on a white background which can be used to encode data ranging from URLs, emails, phone numbers e.t.c and can be decoded faster than the conventional bar-code.  

Technical Details - QR Structure

Image by: Richard Wheeler (Zephyris)

Uses

QR codes have been and can be used for various purposes either as part of a mobile marketing strategy or to aid the public by embedding these codes on buildings as a way of offering a link to more information on a particular subject.

Digital Business Cards

If you have printed stationary for your business or any other printed literature, you can embed the QR code with a digital business card which bares all of your company information such as emails, images,movies, location on google maps. This then allows for a cleaner-looking design of your literature as you can save some of that paper space for more appealing visuals and when a potential client scans the QR code from a mobile phone, they also get the option of either saving you (the business) as a contact or calling you directly as a result.

Improving traffic on your site

Since QR codes are still trendy, it may actually be easier for people to scan your voucher/leaflet and visit your site just to “try out the technology” which if done effectively could boost visits to your site. E-commerce sites could easily put an advert in a glossy magazine and display a picture of an outfit which was worn by someone famous and have a QR code to “get the look” which takes the customers straight to the product page ready for checkout and mastering this will lead to improved site visits and eventually more sales.

Analytics

When setup with analytics, QR codes can assist businesses to monitor their mobile marketing campaign as they can gather the number of scans made on a QR code and adjust their marketing strategy accordingly.

 

How you get them on your site

MODX Revolution CMS

Open source content management system MODX Revolution which is based on PHP can easily add QR codes dynamically to your pages using the makeQR snippet. 

 

Online QR generators 

Google is your friend as the saying goes. To generate your own QR codes, simple search on google and you will find a lot of services "free of-course" which let you download the code as an image you can then attach to PDF downloads on your site or on the pages themselves.