What are QR codes?

They are a two-dimensional code that can be scanned by a smartphone to automatically obtain information such as URL, phone number, videos, photos, music, text, etc.

QR stands for “Quick Response” and QR codes were first developed in Japan by a company called Denso-Wave in 1994. In essence, QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that can be read both vertically and horizontally. The codes consist of a grid of small squares. This allows much more data to be encoded in a much smaller space than a conventional barcode.

QR codes are readable by smartphones and QR scanners. They were initially used to track auto parts in Japan, where they are very popular, but now have a much wider commercial use within the digital world. They can be added to a business card or email to send someone with a reader directly to your website.

So while a barcode can practically only identify a product and requires a special device to be scanned, QR codes can embed much more information and trigger an action when read, such as downloading a music file or opening a website. directly on your phone.

Imagine how easy it is for someone to access your website, without the hassle of typing in the URL, especially useful if you have a hard-to-spell or non-memorable web address.

Some popular uses of QR codes:

Contact Information – Add all of your contact information, including phone numbers, office address, website, and email

Name Tags – Add all your information to your name tag in a conference and your colleagues can simply scan it to download all your details.

Art: Street artist Banksy has a work in a disused railway tunnel in London that includes a QR code, when this code is scanned it takes you directly to his Wikipedia page.

Storefronts: In the US, Google is sending QR code stickers to small businesses in Google Places, to be placed in storefronts for passersby to scan.

QR codes are still pretty foreign to most people, so make them a bit easier by adding some value. Don’t just send them to your website when you scan them, maybe send them to a special offer page, for QR code users only, add some value to encourage your users.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy using your codes and start getting creative as they are likely to become extremely popular as more and more people surf the web on smartphones.

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