How to Create Business Cards with a QR Code

7 min readFeb 29, 2024

After a quick chat at a networking event, someone whose work you’ve admired for a long time asks you:

“Oh, I’d love to share my findings with you. Can I get your email? 🥹”

What you do next will determine how you connect and stay connected after the event. It’s a crucial moment, so what do you do?

You scuffle through your pockets, trying to find the business card to hand out.
You pull up a QR code from your gallery or wallet for them to scan.

It’s not as dramatic as the picture I’ve painted. I know! But if you want to make a good impression and share more than just your email with someone, going for the second option will be the right move.

Business cards made with QR codes, also called ‘Digital Business Cards’, have everything a regular business card has — and then some more:

Contact information
Photo
Brand logo
Links to websites, social media, or portfolios.

Okay, but how does a business card made with a QR code even work?

When you create a business card using a QR code, you’re essentially creating a digital file with an online format called Virtual Contact File (VCF).

What’s so special about the VCF file format, you ask? Well, a VCF file is shareable across mobile and other devices without friction. So you can share your contact information in a seamless manner.

When a person scans the business card QR code, your details will be loaded on the person’s device, and they can save it with a couple of clicks.

This is how your digital business card will appear on their screens:

See how conveniently the details are shown? This is why digital business cards are way better options than traditional, paper-based cards.

So if you want to learn how to make one, follow along. It only takes seven steps to use a QR code generator to generate a digital business card.

7 Simple Steps to Create a Business Card QR Code

To show you how to create a business card QR code, I’m using Uniqode (formerly Beaconstac). With SOC-2 compliance and 360-degree management of QR codes, along with tracking and analytics, it’s the only enterprise-ready solution out there.

Let’s see how we can use Uniqode to create a business card in seven easy steps.

To begin with, sign up for a 14-day free trial with zero costs involved.

Step 1: Open Uniqode’s QR code generator using any browser of choice and log in to check the dashboard.

You will notice a ‘+Create’ button on the right side of the screen. Click on it to start the creation process.

Step 2: Pick a digital business card from the selection of pre-made templates.

Choose ‘Start from scratch’ to design a fresh template for your digital business card.

Step 3: Add profile information to the business card.

As you can see, there are a total of three steps to setting up the business card.

The first step is called ‘Build’, wherein you will be setting up your profile information. Under the ‘PROFILE INFORMATION’ section, you will have to fill out fields like your name, company name, professional summary, logo, and headshot.

Step 4: Provide contact details.

Next, add your contact details to the digital business card under the ‘CONTACT DETAILS’.

Make sure to include your phone number, website links, email address, geographical location, and any other custom field you want to add.

📌 Look at the right side of the screen; you’ll be able to preview how the information will appear on your digital business card.

Step 5: Add links to social media profiles.

Under the ‘SOCIAL LINKS’ section in the ‘BUILD’ tab, add all relevant links to your social media profiles. This covers LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and more.

With Uniqode, you can add more than 20 URLs to social profiles with their respective icons.

This ends Step 1 of the process. Click on ‘NEXT>’ to move to the next step.

Step 6: Customize your digital business card.

Once you’ve added all the necessary information, move to Step 2.

You can now start designing your digital business card under the ‘CUSTOMIZE’ tab. You choose your preferred color, font style, and font size.

Keep checking the digital business card preview as you adjust the design.

Then, click on ‘NEXT>’ to move to the next step.

Step 7: Set up the networking features you want.

Finally, in Step 3, you can set up your digital business card to enable specific networking features from the following list:

Two-Way Contact Sharing: When recipients receive your digital business card, they can click the “Share your contact” button at the bottom to access a form for sharing their personal details with you. These will appear as ‘lead entries’ in the “Contact Manager” section.
Auto-Download Contact: Once a recipient scans the QR code for your digital business card, they’ll be able to save your contact details automatically.
URL Domain: You can select a custom domain for your digital business card. However, this feature is only available with their Team plans and above.
Track IP Location: This is an opt-in feature and will need permission from the users. You can track and display the IP address of the scanner’s device to check the location where they are engaged.
GPS Location: This is another opt-in feature and requires permission. You can track and display the location of the person viewing your digital business card.
QR Code Templates: You can also use your company’s QR code template to create your digital business card if they’re using a team plan.

After you’ve enabled the necessary features, click on ‘FINISH’. You can now share your digital business card as a Google wallet pass or an Apple wallet pass instantly.

Just whip out the code and let recipients scan it to access your contact information.

5 tips to create a memorable digital business card

Like regular business cards, a well-designed digital business card will also leave a good first impression on the recipients.

If you want to create a memorable digital business card, just follow the tips below:

Make sure the card’s design matches your brand’s visual identity. If you’re representing a company, use the same design as your brand. This visual consistency will improve brand recognition and create instant recall.
Only add valuable contact details. Instead of cluttering the digital business card with all sorts of contact information, stick to only the essentials. For example, adding a mailing address is not as important as adding an email address.
Design the card for mobile screens. When customizing and adding information to your digital business card, think about how it’ll appear on smartphone screens, which differ in size. It should be easy to access and read the card details.
Use a high-resolution profile picture. This should go without saying, but you should always add a high-quality, professional-looking profile picture to the card. Say no to heavily edited or cropped images, as they can give a poor impression.
Take caution about the card’s file size. On average, the file size of your digital business card should be 600 pixels or less. Otherwise, it’ll take too long for the card to load on the recipient’s screen.

Parting Thoughts

As I demonstrated above, it’s incredibly easy to create a business card with a QR code. This method only takes a few minutes and gives you a contactless way of sharing contact details. The keyword here is convenience. ✨

And with QR code management platforms like Uniqode, you can not only create visually appealing, easy-to-access digital business cards but also add clickable elements like social media icons and unique networking features like ‘Two-Way Contact Sharing’.

Digital business cards are the modern tools of the trade. If you want to make a great first impression in the first meeting, then there’s no better method than this.

Try to see for yourself!