Blog views and other obsessions – generating a free QR code

~ Book Club Mom

Last week I learned how to generate free QR codes for work and it’s easy and kind of fun to do, so I thought I’d share what I learned here. First of all, do you know what QR means? I had never thought about it much, but it stands for Quick Response.

We’re going to use a QR code for print materials and I’m still figuring out how it would be useful in the digital world for bloggers versus just using a link, although the code definitely works online. This article from Wasp Barcode Technologies talks about using QR codes for print and something like that on Facebook, Snapchat and Spotify. For authors who use print materials, even a business card, it’s a simpler way to direct people to your work. Anyone with a phone can use the camera function that recognizes the codes and takes you directly to your site.

Paid versions let you track stats and customize your code even more. I think the free one I made looks pretty good and although I love tracking stats, I don’t think I would upgrade to be able to access them.

It’s a wild idea, but I’m thinking of having a t-shirt made with my blog’s QR code on the back!

Anyway, here’s the link to the QR code generator I used. It’s called QR Code Monkey.

And here’s the QR code I made for Book Club Mom. See? You can even upload your logo onto the code. Isn’t that fun?

Have you used QR codes for any of your work or for your blog? What types of things have you done? Leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for visiting – come back soon!

34 thoughts on “Blog views and other obsessions – generating a free QR code”

  1. I haven’t made a QR code for stuff, but I can see how they’d be useful. Maybe at the end of a book directing readers to an author’s Amazon page, something like that.

    1. Yes I can see that working. I’m not in Snapchat or Spotify but I’m going to ask my kids how it could be used since that’s their world. Thanks for reading and commenting, Priscilla!

    1. Hi Bette – I think it’s pretty interesting – I know QR codes have been around for quite a while, but I had never thought about them much. Now they seem to be everywhere.

    1. Hi Stephanie – yes, I didn’t know either. I volunteered to figure it out for work and thought it would take a long time, but it was ridiculously easy. Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂

  9. I never thought of using a QR code, Barb, but I see them everywhere these days (since covid, the menu at our fav restaurant is now available through a QR code laminated to the table). Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ll bet we’ll start seeing more of these.

    1. Hi Diana – yes I’ve seen a lot of them. We’ve used one at work to fill out a health survey every time we enter the building and yes, menus too. Thanks for stopping by!

  10. I’ve seen QR codes and used them in other media, most recently when getting vaccinated. You are opening up my mind to a whole new world. I will have to bookmark this website after I share it. Thanks, Barbara!

  11. I didn’t know it was called QR code, Barbara. My husband bought a gadget, he had to use the phone to scan the QR code to connect the product to his phone.
    I tried the QR generator and somehow I picked the same color as yours. But how do you use it?

    1. Hi Miriam – mostly for print items. So a person can just scan the QR code to get to your website or sign up for something or anything else. It’s kind of link a paper link. That’s weird that you got the same colors – I had to dig around for them. Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙂 (Also so sorry for the long delay in emailing you – my email to you was in my Drafts folder – I thought I had sent it.)

  13. I wonder what the advantage of a blog QR would be. The main place I’ve been seeing these lately is restaurants — which, honestly, I find annoying! I’d rather be handed a menu than have to scan a code and try to read a menu on my phone. Maybe that’s just a sign of my troublesome eyesight!

    1. I know! We were out to dinner last night and I went in thinking I would be scanning a QR code, but they had menus! I think the only use for a QR code for a blogger would be if you were handing out a print item – you could have it on there and then people could get right to your blog. Kind of like a paper link, rather than making someone type in a URL. Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!

  14. The only application I can think of right now is on the bookmark I had designed to promote my blog. I leave little stacks of them in libraries and at book events (back in the day when they were still face to face).

  16. This is interesting, Barbara. I have one on my book business cards that takes you to my website. I didn’t make it myself though. Another stride forward with digitalisation.

    1. Yes, I can see using it for print promotions, but not really for digital things. Still, I feel like that could happen, I just can’t imagine how. Thank you for reading!

Comments are closed.