QR code business card: how to share your details in one scan

QR codes are everywhere in South Africa now, on menus, on till slips, on the back of taxis. Putting one on your business card sounds obvious, and it is, but most QR business cards are done badly: they open a website, or a PDF, or a form, and the person scanning gives up before you are saved. A good QR business card does one thing, immediately.

Encode the contact, not a link

The single most important decision. There are two things a QR can hold: a web address, or data itself. If you encode your contact details directly, in the vCard format every phone understands, the camera opens a pre-filled contact with a Save button. If you encode a link, the camera opens a browser, the page has to load, and the person has to find and tap a download. Encode the contact. It also works with no signal, which matters at a farm gate or in a conference basement.

What to put in the vCard

• Your name, spelled the way you want it saved. This is how they will find you in six months.
• Company and job title, so the contact makes sense later.
• Mobile number in international format (+27 82 000 0000), so it dials from anywhere and matches on WhatsApp.
• Email and website.
• Leave out the essay. Every extra field makes the QR denser and harder to scan from a distance. Name, company, title, mobile, email, website is plenty.

Make it scannable

• Contrast: dark modules on a light background, or the reverse. A grey QR on a beige card fails in low light.
• Size: at least 20mm square on a printed card, bigger on anything read from further away.
• Quiet zone: leave clear space around the code, at least the width of two modules. Cramming the logo against it confuses the reader.
• Test it on both kinds of phone before you print anything. An iPhone and an Android should both offer "Add contact".

Where to put it

1. In your phone wallet. This is the version you will actually use, because it is always with you. A wallet digital business card puts the QR two taps away in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, in your colours with your logo.
2. On the back of your paper cards. The front does the ceremony, the back does the saving. Use the same QR as your wallet card so the contact is identical.
3. In your email signature. Small, but people on video calls scan it off the screen more than you would expect.
4. On the van, the shopfront, the counter. For trades and shops, a "save our number" QR next to the logo works. For collecting reviews rather than contacts, use a review QR stand instead: different job, different QR.

The mistakes that make people give up

• Linking to a website that asks them to type their details in before they get yours.
• A QR that opens a PDF of your paper card. Nobody types a phone number off a PDF.
• Using a free QR generator that redirects through the generator's own domain and expires after a trial. The QR on a printed card must point at data you control, or at the contact itself.
• Putting the QR on a glossy card that reflects the venue lights straight into the camera. Matte prints scan better.

The easiest way to get all of this right

Make a Good Shout card. It encodes a proper vCard, sizes and spaces the QR correctly, puts it in your wallet, and gives you the same QR to reuse on print. Free to start, R149 once-off for Pro, no subscription. Whether you use ours or not, the rule stands: one scan, one tap, saved.

Frequently asked questions

Do QR codes expire?

A QR that encodes the contact itself never expires; there is nothing to renew. A QR that points at a link expires when the link does, which is why free generators with trial periods are a trap on printed material.

Can I change my details after printing?

If the QR holds the contact directly, the print is fixed, so keep the printed QR to details that rarely change and rely on your wallet card for the current version. A wallet card updates whenever you edit it.

Will a QR work on older phones?

Any iPhone from 2017 on and almost any Android from the last six years reads QR codes from the camera app. Older Androids may need a free scanner app.