How to Make a Free QR Code for Your Business

What a QR code is, and how customers scan it

A QR code stores one link as a pattern of black and white squares. The camera on iPhones and most Android phones today reads it directly. Customers don’t need a special app: open the camera, point it at the code, and tap the link that appears.

There are two kinds to know about before you print:

• Static. The link is stored in the code itself. It works forever, but the link can’t change once it’s printed.
• Dynamic. The code goes to the QR maker’s own address, which then sends customers on to your link. You can change the link, but many QR makers charge a subscription, and the code can stop working when a free trial or subscription ends.

Note the QR codes in this guide open a page or a link. To take payments, use the DuitNow QR from your bank or e-wallet.

First: decide where the QR code goes

The most common mistake is making separate QR codes for WhatsApp, Shopee, the menu and the location, then printing four on one poster. Customers will scan only one.

It’s better to make one QR code to one page that holds it all: a WhatsApp button, your menu or price list, your online shop and your location. That way:

• You never reprint. A static QR code to your page stays the same. When prices, the menu or your number change, you update the page.
• No subscription. You get what a dynamic QR code promises (content you can change) without depending on a QR maker whose subscription can run out.
• One address everywhere. The same link works as your link in your Instagram and TikTok bio.

How to make a free QR code with Singgah

1. Make your page

   Open singgah.page/try; no sign-up needed to start. Tap Add block to add a WhatsApp block, a Link block to Shopee or Google Maps, and an Image block for product photos.

2. Publish it

   Tap Publish, then Sign up to publish. Once you’ve signed up, your page comes into your account and the Publish panel opens again; tap Publish now.

3. Tap QR code

   Once your page is live, tap QR code in the Publish panel. (It’s also the QR code icon on your page’s card in the dashboard.) The code opens your page’s address, like singgah.page/yourshop.

4. Download or share it

   Download PNG gives you a 1200-pixel image with your page’s address under the code, sharp enough for an A4 poster. For bigger prints, like a banner, choose SVG. On a phone, Share sends it to WhatsApp, Photos or another app on your phone.

Another way: a QR code for any link with Google Chrome

Need a QR code for a single link, such as your Shopee shop or a WhatsApp link with a message? Google Chrome can make one, free and static:

1. Open the link in Chrome.
2. On a computer, right-click the page and choose Create QR code for this page. On Android, tap the three-dot menu, then Share and QR code.
3. Tap Download to save the image.

Note these menu names change between Chrome versions and languages. If you can’t find them, look for the share icon at the end of the address bar.

How to print a QR code that scans easily

The right size depends on how far away people stand. A simple rule: make the code at least a tenth of the scanning distance wide, and never under 2 cm.

• Business card, labelheld in the hand2–3 cm
• Table menu, counterscanned from about 50 cm5 cm
• Poster on a wallscanned from about 1 m10 cm
• Bannerscanned from about 3 m30 cm

• Dark on light. Black on white is easiest to read. Don’t invert the colours or use pale ones.
• Leave white space around it. Don’t put the code right against an edge, text or another picture.
• Say why to scan it. “Scan to order” or “Scan for the menu” usually gets scanned more often than a bare code. Add the page’s address too, for anyone who’d rather type.
• Test before printing many. Print one first, then scan it with two different phones from the real distance.

Why won’t my QR code scan?

• It’s too small for the distance. A 3 cm code on a poster seen from across the room is hard to read. Follow the one-tenth rule above.
• The contrast is too low. A grey code on a coloured background, or a white code on black, fails on some phones.
• There’s no space around it. Cameras need a light border around the code to find it.
• The image is blurry or stretched. A code enlarged from a small image, or stretched out of square, goes soft. Use the original file, or the SVG for big prints.
• The page’s address changed, or the page was unpublished. The code opens your page’s exact address. If you change that address (Change link) or unpublish the page after printing, the printed code no longer opens your page.
• The link inside is dead. A dynamic QR code whose subscription ended, or a page that was deleted, opens an error page even when the code scans fine.

Questions