QR code ideas for small business: what to encode and how to print it

9 QR code ideas for small business, with what to encode

A QR code earns its place when it saves a customer from typing something awkward on a phone: a WiFi password, a phone number with a country code, a long review link. The table lists the ideas that do this best and the exact content each code should hold.

Every one of these can be made as a free static code in the QR code generator, which has URL, WiFi, WhatsApp, Email, Phone, SMS and Contact types, so you fill in fields instead of building the strings by hand. The sections below explain the formats, so you can check what a code contains before you print 500 of them.

How to make a QR code for WiFi

A WiFi QR code holds a short text string, not a link. The format comes from the ZXing barcode project's documentation and is read by the iPhone Camera app and most Android cameras, which offer to join the network after a scan:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:Cafe Guest;P:latte2026;;

The fields can appear in any order, and ZXing's example ends with a double semicolon. The detail that breaks most hand-made codes is escaping. According to ZXing, the characters \, ;, ,, " and : must be preceded by a backslash inside the name or password. A password of pa;ss:word has to be written as P:pa\;ss\:word;, or the phone reads the password as pa and fails to connect. The ToolzyLab generator escapes these characters for you.

Anyone who scans the code can read the password in plain text, so put guest WiFi on a separate guest network, never the one your till or office computers use. If you change the password, reprint the code. A long random password from the password generator is fine here, because nobody has to type it.

WhatsApp, Google review, email and contact QR codes

These four cover most of the ways a customer gets in touch, and each has a format detail that's easy to get wrong.

WhatsApp QR code

WhatsApp's help center gives the format https://wa.me/<number>, where the number is "a full phone number in international format" with any zeroes, brackets or dashes left out. A UK mobile written 07700 900123 becomes https://wa.me/447700900123. To open the chat with text already typed, add ?text= and the message URL-encoded, so spaces become %20. The URL encoder converts a message for you, or the generator's Prefilled Message field handles it.

Google review QR code

Google's Business Profile help explains the official route: go to your Business Profile, select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link or download the QR code Google makes. Google notes that the QR code download currently works only in a computer browser. Encoding the copied link yourself gives you control over size and colors. Google prohibits offering discounts or free items in exchange for reviews, so the card should just ask.

Email, phone and SMS codes

Email uses a mailto link with an optional subject and body: mailto:orders@example.com?subject=Quote%20request. A call code is tel: followed by the number with country code. For texts, the generator's SMS type writes SMSTO:+14155550123:Your message, and ZXing also documents plain sms:+14155550123 links. Test either on both iPhone and Android before printing.

Contact card (vCard)

A vCard puts your details straight into the phone's contacts. The generator's Contact type writes a vCard 3.0 starting with BEGIN:VCARD and VERSION:3.0, followed by lines such as FN:Maria Lopez, TEL;TYPE=CELL:+14155550123 and EMAIL:maria@example.com. Every field makes the code denser, so a card with an address and job title needs to be printed larger than one with a name and number.

Static vs dynamic QR codes

A static code contains your content directly. A dynamic code contains a short link to a QR company's server, which redirects to your content and counts each scan.

There's a middle option that gives you both. Encode a static link on your own website, such as https://example.com/menu, and set up a redirect there. You can change where it points at any time, nothing depends on a third party, and your own analytics count the visits. Add UTM tags such as ?utm_source=qr&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=table-tent to tell one printed code from another. The generator's URL mode has UTM fields for this.

How to use QR codes for marketing without wasting a print run

• Say what the scan does. A label such as "Scan for guest WiFi" or "Scan to book on WhatsApp" next to the code tells people what they'll get, and a bare square tells them nothing.
• One code, one job. A code that opens a page with eight options loses people. Point it at the single action the label promises.
• Make the landing page work on a phone. A menu as a web page loads faster and reads better on a phone than a PDF that needs zooming.
• Put codes where people stand still. Tables, counters, queues and bus stops work. Moving vehicles and the top of tall posters don't.
• Keep a fallback. Print the web address, the WiFi name or the phone number under the code for people who prefer not to scan.

QR code size: how big to print it

The common rule of thumb is a 10:1 ratio between scan distance and code width. QR Planet, a QR code service, recommends a minimum of 2 x 2 cm for codes holding up to 72 characters scanned from about 20 cm, and scaling up in line with the distance from there.

Four things change the answer:

• Content length. A long URL or a full vCard adds modules, so each square gets smaller at the same print size. Shorten the link or print larger.
• Quiet zone. The QR standard asks for a blank margin four modules wide around the code. The generator's Quiet Zone slider starts at 2, which phones handle on screen. For print, set it to 4 or leave white space around the code in your layout.
• Contrast. Dark modules on a light background. Inverted codes, pale colors and busy photo backgrounds fail on some scanner apps.
• Logo. A center logo hides part of the pattern. Error correction level H rebuilds about 30% of the code, against about 7% for L and 15% for M, and the generator switches to H automatically when you add a logo.

Download the SVG for print so the printer can scale it without blur. If a print shop insists on a bitmap, convert it with the SVG to PNG converter at 4x scale. For product numbers rather than links, the barcode generator makes EAN and UPC codes.

Test every code, and protect it from quishing

Before printing, scan the code with an iPhone camera and an Android camera, from the real distance, in the lighting where it will hang. Print one test copy at final size and scan that too. Check the destination as well: a code that scans perfectly into a broken page is still a broken code.

QR phishing, sometimes called quishing, is a known scam. In a December 2023 consumer alert, the US Federal Trade Commission described criminals sticking their own codes over real ones on parking meters and sending codes in unexpected texts and emails. It repeated the parking warning in September 2026. The FTC's advice to consumers is to inspect the URL a code shows before opening it and not to scan codes in messages they weren't expecting.

For a business, that means two habits. Check your public codes every week or so for stickers placed over them, especially on payment and parking signs. And print your domain name next to the code, so customers can compare it with the link their phone previews. If you use QR codes for anything sensitive, our guide to whether online file converters are safe covers the same habit of checking where your data goes.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• ZXing wiki: Barcode contents (WiFi network config format)
• WhatsApp Help Center: How to use click to chat
• Google Business Profile Help: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews
• FTC Consumer Alert: Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to steal your information
• QR Planet: What is the minimum size of a QR Code?
• Google Business Profile Help: Manage customer reviews (incentives policy)

Published 11 October 2026Written and fact-checked by the ToolzyLab teamEditorial policy