The What and Why of QR Codes

QR codes (or Quick Response codes) are relatively new in our world, and they're becoming increasingly popular. You've surely seen these little squares all over, whether it's on posters, online, or on some of the products you buy in the grocery store. They look like a random bunch of black and white pixels, but truthfully, they're a form of matrix barcode. Initially created for use in the automotive industry for high speed scanning and tracking of vehicles during production, QR codes have evolved to have many more uses for both industry and society. Now, they can be scanned with mobile phones (equipped with a camera and the proper application) and used to do anything from bringing up a URL to sending an text message to a specific recipient.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone!

QR codes have extensive uses including: links to YouTube videos, Google Maps locations, and Twitter or Facebook pages; showing plain text or telephone numbers; sending specific SMS Text Message or Emails to certain recipients; providing contact details; WiFi logins on Android devices; and many more.

The best part about QR codes? They're simple to generate and anyone can do it! Sites like Kaywa, QRstuff, and many others allow for quick and easy generation of your own QR codes for download. You can then take these codes and use them on blogs (like mine), websites, posters, business cards, products, t-shirts, or however else you please.

QR codes also have to ability to be tracked. A popular method of doing so is through Google Analytics. This service allows you to track and monitor your website traffic. Combined with URL shortening (to make a simpler, faster-to-scan QR code), this is a fantastic way to see just how much activity your codes are getting! Working with Google Analytics is a fairly simple process. You just enter the URL of your choice, and Google will add a string onto the end that it will then track to compile the information. After that, you just enter the rest of the information for your campaign, use any URL shortener on the new link Google generates for you, create your QR code, and start spreading the word (or, in this case, code!).

With so many possibilities available for the usage of QR codes, it's easy to why so many companies, organizations, and individuals are taking advantage of them. They provide more bang for your buck, in a way, by taking up very little room and supplying far more possibilities than text or graphics of equal size could. Also, with how quickly they can be scanned, people are more likely to get out their phones and check it out just to see where they will be lead to.

So, now that you have the information, get generating!

                                                                                                                   

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
http://www.qrstuff.com/
http://blog.redclayinteractive.com/how-to-track-qr-codes-in-google-analytics/
http://www.google.com/analytics/