QR Codes become recognised as Valuable Marketing Tool

Monday 12th March, by Stephanie Clark

QR (Quick Response) codes are an incredible mobile advertising and marketing tool, and are now popping everywhere. Some of the methods of using QR codes today make great sense, like on a company card, so individuals can scan your details instead to having to type it in.

Everyone recognises that one of the keys to first-rate SEO is making sure you keep website updated, new and fresh. Whether through a blog, or changing your homepage with new offers, coupons or new products, it goes to show Google that your site is live. For numerous small companies in particular, this is a real challenge.

They are a lot more practical than a standard barcode is that they can save (and digitally present) much more data, including url links, geo coordinates, and text. The additional key attributes of QR Codes is that rather than requiring a beefy hand-held scanner to scan them, many modern cell phones can scan them. The full Wikipedia description is here.

If you include them on your site, the search engines will notice that your pages have changed, and that you are updating pages. The search engine will see a new image and index it appropriately. At some point soon, the search engines will likely recognize QR codes and possibly index the content in them.

A few suggestions for QR code uses consist of using QR codes only in locations where they can conveniently and safely be scanned, making sure the code is in an electronic format (email or website), and also ensuring there is WiFi or 3G access in the location where the code is positioned.

For local businesses, put a QR code on the door that provides customers with a file with your opening times, phone numbers, and site. A PDF hosted on a website is good for this. Their ability to hold more information and their ease of use makes them completely practical for small companies.  

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/mobile-marketing-with-qr-codes-and-ms-tags/#more-14842