How QR Codes Are Becoming The New Link Building

Freshness at Search Engine Land today!

Quick Response (“QR”) codes have emerged as the preferred 2D barcode format for “hard-linking” offline marketing to the mobile web. In this month’s column, titled “The New Link Building: How QR Codes Disrupt More Than URLs,” I analyze the three most common approaches for generating QR-ready URLs. I also explore the tradeoffs between the critical factors involved in QR code generation: URL compression, branding, and tracking.

You’ll see why QR codes will profoundly impact our notion of search engine optimization, link building, and URL management. Enjoy!