Mobile landing pages for QR codes: what to put on them

• It's read on a phone, often outdoors, often on weak signal. Build for that.
• Match the promise printed next to the code. If the poster says 'menu', open on the menu.
• One main action, at the top, as a large button.
• 16 px text minimum, buttons around 44 to 48 px tall, no sideways scrolling.

Someone just pointed their phone at your poster. They're standing on a pavement or at a table, maybe in bad light, maybe on one bar of signal, and they'll give your page a few seconds. Whatever opens in those seconds decides whether the scan was worth anything.

Keep the promise the print made

The text next to the code is a promise: "Today's menu", "Tour dates", "Join the guest list". The page should open on exactly that, not on a home page with a slideshow. If one code serves several purposes, the top of the page should still show the most likely one first.

Load fast on a weak signal

• Small images. A hero photo straight off a camera can be several megabytes. Resize to the width it's shown at and compress.
• Few or no scripts. Every script, font and tracker adds requests. A plain HTML page with inline styles loads almost instantly.
• No interstitials. Cookie walls, newsletter pop-ups and app install banners on a page someone reached from a poster send them straight back.

The pages exported by our square page builder are a single file with no scripts and no outside requests, usually under 30 KB with a photo.

Make it readable without zooming

• Body text at 16 px or larger, with comfortable line spacing.
• High contrast between text and background. Light grey text on white looks refined and is hard to read outdoors.
• Short paragraphs and clear headings. People scan; they don't read.
• No horizontal scrolling. Long words, links and tables should wrap or scroll inside their own box.
• A proper viewport meta tag, so the phone doesn't render a shrunken desktop layout.

Buttons a thumb can hit

WCAG 2.2 sets a minimum target size of 24 by 24 CSS pixels (with spacing exceptions), and many platform guidelines recommend around 44 to 48. For a page reached by QR code, generous is better: full-width buttons at least 48 px tall, with space between them so a tap doesn't land on the wrong link. Write the button text as the action: "Book a table", "Get tickets", "Listen to the EP".

One main action

Decide what you most want people to do and put it first, as the biggest button. Add a handful of secondary links below. Five or six links is plenty; past that, people stop reading. Contact options (email, phone, social) can go in a smaller row at the bottom.

Say who you are

Your name or logo at the top reassures people they landed where they meant to, which matters more now that people know about QR code scams. A matching name on the print and the page, and a web address on your own domain, both build trust.

A stable address

The page should live at an address that won't change: yourname.com/links, yourcafe.com/menu. Then you can update the content without reprinting codes. If you move it, set up a redirect from the old address. See dynamic vs static QR codes for why this beats a paid redirect service for most people.

Measure without slowing it down

If you want to know which print placement works, add UTM tags to the link in each code and read them in whatever analytics you already use. Keep the page itself light.

Before you print, test it

Open the page on your own phone, on mobile data rather than Wi-Fi, outside if that's where people will be. Check that it loads quickly, that every button works, that nothing scrolls sideways and that the main action is visible without scrolling. Then make the code with the generator and print a proof.

Sources

• W3C: Understanding WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)

Questions

Should the landing page be the home page?

Usually not. Send people to the page that delivers what the print promised: the menu, the event schedule, the signup. A general home page makes them search again.

How fast does it need to be?

As fast as you can make it. People scanning a poster give up quickly. Small images, no heavy scripts, no pop-ups. A plain HTML page loads almost instantly even on weak signal.

Do I need a cookie banner?

Only if you use cookies or trackers that require consent where you operate. A page with no analytics and no third-party scripts, like the ones our builder exports, doesn't set cookies at all.