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THOUGHTS / BEGINNERS GUIDE 30 Jul 2025 8 MIN READ

What Is a QR Code and How Can It Work With Your Website?

That square, pixelated pattern on the restaurant menu, the shop window sticker, the exhibition stand — by now, almost everyone knows what it does. Point your phone camera at it and a link opens. No typing, no searching, no misremembering. For a business that exists in both physical and digital space, a QR code is one of the simplest bridges between the two, and one of the cheapest.

A QR code is a scannable image that stores a web address (or other information). When someone points their phone camera at it, the phone reads the code and opens the linked website automatically. You can generate a QR code for your website for free in seconds using tools like QR Code Generator or Canva. Once generated, you download the image and put it on your business card, shop window, flyer, receipt, or anywhere customers might see it. There is no ongoing cost and no technical knowledge required.

There is a particular kind of frustration — small, easily forgotten, but real — that arrives when you are standing outside a closed shop at night, or sitting in a waiting room without a pen, wanting to remember a business. You have their leaflet in your hand. Their website address is printed on it. But typing a long URL into a phone — with hyphens and dots in precisely the right places — is just enough effort that most people do not bother. The QR code exists to dissolve that moment entirely.

The name stands for Quick Response, and it is an accurate description. Rather than asking someone to type your web address into their phone, a QR code lets them scan and arrive instantly — no typing, no squinting at small print. The technology has been around for decades, but it became genuinely part of daily life during the pandemic, when contactless menus and check-ins turned scanning into second nature for most people in the UK. That habit has remained. Today, most phone cameras read QR codes automatically without a separate app: just point, and a link appears.

What Can a QR Code Link To?

A QR code can carry almost any destination, and this is where the possibilities become genuinely useful. Most commonly it links to a website — your homepage, a specific page, or a booking form. But the range is wider than people often realise:

  • A Google Maps location, so customers scanning your window sticker can immediately get directions.
  • A Google review page, making it easy for happy customers to leave a review without searching for you.
  • Your WhatsApp number, opening a conversation directly.
  • A PDF menu or brochure, without printing costs.
  • A booking page, so someone scanning your business card can book an appointment immediately.
  • A contact card (vCard), letting someone save your phone number and details to their phone with one scan.

A QR code on a business card that links to a booking page quietly transforms a piece of card into a conversation that never ends.

Where Should You Put a QR Code?

Placement is everything. The most effective locations share a common quality: they are places where a person already has their phone in their hand and a reason to be curious about your business. Three or four well-chosen placements are worth more than a dozen careless ones:

  • Business cards. A QR code replacing or alongside your website URL means people can visit your site with one scan rather than typing it later and forgetting.
  • Shop or office windows. People walking past can scan to learn more, see your menu, or book — even outside opening hours.
  • Flyers and leaflets. Adding a QR code to printed marketing material gives you a way to measure how many people actually engaged with the flyer (if you use a trackable QR code).
  • Receipts and invoices. A QR code linking to a Google review page at the bottom of a receipt is one of the easiest ways to collect reviews from satisfied customers.
  • Product packaging. Link to assembly instructions, recipes, or care guides — keeping the packaging itself clean and uncluttered.
  • Event stands and pop-ups. A large printed QR code at a market stall or exhibition replaces the need to hand out business cards to everyone.

How Do You Create a QR Code for Free?

Creating a basic QR code requires no technical knowledge and costs nothing. The process is straightforward enough to complete in a few minutes:

  • Go to a free QR code generator — QR Code Generator (qr-code-generator.com), QRCode Monkey (qrcode-monkey.com), or Canva all work well.
  • Paste in the web address you want the code to link to — your homepage, a specific page, or a booking link.
  • Download the generated image as a PNG or SVG file. SVG is better for print because it stays sharp at any size.
  • Place the image on your business card, flyer, or wherever you need it.

That is genuinely all there is to it for a basic code. The web address is baked into the image itself — there is no ongoing service or subscription required for it to keep working, year after year.

Static vs Dynamic QR Codes: What Is the Difference?

A static QR code has the destination baked in permanently. If your website address ever changes, the old code stops working — you would need to reprint. These are free to create and are perfectly fine for most small business uses.

A dynamic QR code works differently. The code points to a redirect service, and you can change where that redirect goes at any time — without reprinting anything. Dynamic codes also record how many times they have been scanned, which types of phone scanned them, and roughly where in the country those scans happened. This matters if you are printing large runs of flyers and want to reserve the option to update the destination, or if you are genuinely curious how many people acted on a piece of print. Most services charge a modest monthly fee for dynamic codes — typically £5 to £15, depending on the provider and how many codes you manage.

Things to Watch Out For

A QR code is only as good as the page it leads to. If your website is not mobile-friendly, someone who scans the code will land on a page that is difficult to read or navigate on a small screen — and the opportunity is lost at the very moment it arrives. Before printing a QR code anywhere, check that the destination page works well on a phone. This matters most for booking pages and contact forms, where friction has an immediate cost.

Also test the code on a real device before you commit it to print. It takes thirty seconds to scan your own QR code with a phone and confirm it goes where you intended. Discovering an error after a thousand business cards have been printed is an avoidable kind of misfortune.

Frequently asked

Do people actually scan QR codes?
Yes — and considerably more than before 2020. Scanning became a mainstream habit during the pandemic, and the habit stayed. The bigger shift, though, is technical: smartphone cameras now read QR codes automatically, without any additional app. That removed the main obstacle to adoption. What matters now is context and placement. A code sitting on a restaurant table during a meal gets scanned far more often than one printed at the bottom of a leaflet a person has already folded away. The code is the easy part. Where you put it is the real decision.
Is a QR code free?
Creating a basic static QR code costs nothing. You generate the image, download it, and use it for as long as you like — there are no ongoing fees and nothing to renew. Dynamic codes, which let you update the destination later and see how many times the code was scanned, do require a paid subscription — usually £5 to £15 a month. For most small businesses that are simply linking to a website unlikely to change address, a free static code is entirely sufficient. The paid option becomes worthwhile mainly when you are printing at scale and want flexibility afterwards.
Can someone scan a QR code on a screen rather than on paper?
Yes. A screen and a printed page are equally readable to a phone camera, provided the code is large enough and there is no glare making it hard to resolve. This opens up possibilities that are easy to overlook: a QR code shown in a presentation, included in a social media post image, or displayed on a digital sign in a window. The medium is almost irrelevant. What matters is that the code is clear, well-lit, and large enough for the camera to read from a comfortable distance.
What size does a QR code need to be to work?
The practical minimum for print is roughly 2.5 cm by 2.5 cm — about one inch square. A code that small works fine in the hand, on a business card or receipt. If you are displaying one in a window or on a sign meant to be read from a metre or more away, larger is better: the phone needs to be able to resolve the pattern clearly. For business cards, 2 cm square is workable as long as the print quality is sharp. When generating your code, always download the highest resolution version on offer — this matters particularly if you are scaling it up for a sign or poster.

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