A WhatsApp QR code is just your wa.me link drawn in squares: whoever points a phone camera at it opens a chat with you, without typing the number. It takes two minutes, costs nothing, and is one of the most useful things you can put in a window, on a counter or on an invoice. Do not confuse it with the QR that links WhatsApp to a computer: that one gives access to your account (the three QR codes of WhatsApp).
Making it, step by step
| 1 |
Get the link. The simplest is the one you already know: https://wa.me/NUMBERwhere NUMBER is the full number with the country code, digits only. The WhatsApp Business app also has a short link with its QR ready-made (filling in your business profile).
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| 2 |
Add the ready-written message, if you like: https://wa.me/NUMBER?text=I%20saw%20the%20poster%20in%20the%20windowThe text goes encoded (spaces become %20). The format and the commonest mistakes are in what goes wrong with wa.me links.
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| 3 |
Generate the QR code with any online QR generator, pasting the link. Choose a static QR, which stores the link directly. Some generators make “dynamic” QR codes, which go through an address of theirs and stop working when the service ends.
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Download it as a vector (SVG) or a large PNG. A stretched or too-small QR comes out blurry in print.
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Test with two different phones before printing: an Android and an iPhone if you can, and at different distances.
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Where to put it, and with what message
| Where |
Tip |
Ready-written message (example) |
| Window or door |
Large, at eye level and well lit. |
I saw your window and wanted to know more |
| Counter or menu |
Near where people wait. |
I am in the shop and have a question |
| Invoice or receipt |
Small, with a sentence to explain it. |
I have a question about my invoice |
| Packaging and products |
Link to after-sales or re-order requests. |
I bought the product and need help |
| Vehicle or card |
Strong contrast; it must be readable at arm’s length. |
I saw your card and would like to talk |
Look at the third column: a different message in each place tells you, with no tool at all, where each contact came from. It is the same idea as the button on the website, applied to paper.
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Dark on light, always. A QR with inverted colours, over a photograph or with a big logo covering the middle fails on many phones. Leave a white margin around it and test on site, in the light that is there.
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The QR is only good while the number is yours. Printed on a thousand leaflets, it points at one fixed number. If you lose the number, you lose all the printed material: the risks of WhatsApp for business. Use a company number, not that of a person who may leave.
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Put the QR on the website’s contact page too. On a computer it lets the visitor move from the page to the phone in two seconds. For the button on the site, see putting WhatsApp on your site.
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