QR code for business cards
vCard QR vs landing-page QR
Two patterns dominate, and the right choice depends on your follow-up:
- vCard QR — encodes name, phone, email, company, title directly. Scan → tap 'Add to Contacts'. Fast, offline-capable, no website needed.
- Landing-page QR — encodes a URL pointing at your personal site, LinkedIn, or a custom QRshop landing page. Richer experience (photo, bio, links), but requires the recipient to be online.
When the landing-page approach wins
If you want the recipient to do more than just save your contact — connect on LinkedIn, view your portfolio, book a meeting through Calendly — the landing page is essential. A linktree-style QRshop hosted page with 4-6 link buttons (LinkedIn, Calendly, portfolio, Twitter) gives the recipient choices without requiring them to type any URLs.
Print sizing on a business card
Standard business cards are 89mm × 51mm. The QR should be 18mm × 18mm minimum to scan reliably from arm's length:
- 18mm × 18mm — minimum for low-density vCard QRs
- 22mm × 22mm — recommended for vCards with photo or rich data
- Place the QR on the back of the card so the front can stay design-clean
- Add a short call-to-action above ('SCAN TO CONNECT') — increases scan rate by ~40%
Don't shrink the QR to fit your design
The single most common business-card QR failure is sizing the QR to fit a tiny corner. Below 15mm the matrix becomes unreliable. Either give the QR proper space or skip it entirely — a QR that doesn't scan is worse than no QR.
Frequently asked
Should I use a logo inside my business-card QR?
A small logo (under 25% of the QR's surface) adds brand recognition and modern QR readers handle it fine. Keep ECC at level H (high) and test on iPhone, Android, and an older phone before printing.
What if my contact info changes (new job, new phone)?
Use a landing-page QR pointing at your QRshop hosted vCard. Update the page anytime — every printed card keeps working. With a static vCard QR you'd reprint cards.