QR codes

As mentioned in the web design trends of 2011, QR codes are set to have a wider precedence this year and for the foreseeable future, but what exactly are QR codes?

Estate Agents set your faces to stun… Shockingly QR codes were invented in 1994 (yes, 17 years ago!) in Japan by one Toyota group of companies - that makes the QR code around 17 years old!

QR codes were originally used to track car parts in the manufacturing process but now have widespread use in Japan using mobile phones.

As seen in the picture above, instead of using horizontal lines, QR codes uses pixelated squares to encode information. Amazingly QR codes can contain 7,089 numbers or 4,296 alphanumeric characters or 2,953 bytes and can be all read by most smart phones.

This means that QR codes are perfect for marketing purposes. A small QR code can be placed on any advertisement or marketing material then anyone with a mobile smart phone simply scan or take a picture using a QR app. The QR app can then takes the mobile to any URL (web address) such as the Estate Agent’s website or a video on a YouTube channel.

Estate Agents, have you got a smart phone? Search for QR reader in your app store, download the relevant app and then try scanning the image in this article – see where it takes you…

Troy Stanley, CTO of Resource Techniques comments on QR codes for Estate Agents, ‘QR codes are now being used on business cards to take recipients directly to their Estate Agent website.’