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This post is for those that are already familiar with what QR codes are. However, to quickly touch on the exactly what it is… it’s a two-dimensional bar code. QR means “Quick Response”. The code allows its contents to be decoded by devices like mobile phones that can scan and then quickly open website links right on the phone automatically.

So… You have created your QR code, but you don’t know how many people actually scan it and visit your site. In this post we will cover how to create a QR code that can be tracked in Google Analytics so you can measure how many website visitors you receive because of  your QR codes.

If you create a shortened URL for your QR code, you will be able to more easily identify the referral traffic in your Google Analytics data. This makes reporting data a lot easier. First, you will need to have the website address (URL) of your QR code. If you have already created a QR code, but don’t have the URL, it will be almost impossible to track the activity from the QR code.

The best way to track your QR code data is to first use the Google URL Builder.

Example: Google URL Builder

This tool will allow you to create your URL, define the Campaign Source, Campaign Medium and Campaign Name. Building your URL with this tool will also allow you to track exactly how many people scanned your QR code and which phones they use, how long they stayed on your website, and much more.

After you build your URL using the Google URL Builder, you can now use a URL shortener to crunch it down to size. The hidden benefit to using a URL shortener is that some services allow you to edit the link after it has been shortened. Google’s URL Shortener does not allow you to edit the URL once it has been shortened, however, something like Shortswitch’s URL shortening service does let you edit afterwards. This will allow you to redirect the destination of the QR code in the future if ever you want to change the purpose of the specific QR code you’ve already created!

* UPDATE: Shortswitch.com will automatically create a QR code for each URL that you shorten. So, this process gets even easier. You don’t have to go out and find a third-party QR creation tool this way.

For more information on creating a QR code, visit: 5 Unique Uses for QR Codes to get ideas for how to use them.

21 thoughts on “How to Track a QR Code in Google Analytics”

  1. Thanks for the info, Rachel! Once I have the QR code created, how do I then see the number of scans? Does that have to be set up through google analytics? Thanks!

    • Hi Katie,

      Thanks for stopping by. Once you create your URL with the Google URL Builder, you can define the “campaign source” and “Campaign medium” and “campaign name” and you will see traffic under whatever you named it, otherwise you will be able to see the traffic from that URL in Google Analytics under “referral traffic.” So far, I haven’t come across any QR code software that tracks this data.

      Hope this answers your question. If not, I can clarify more for you.

      -Rachel

  2. Tracking a QR code is a hot topic these days. I have to be honest though… 1 year ago I had no idea what a QR code even was!

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    It seems that many people are already interested in finding out how to better track QR code activity within Google Analytics. On another note.. it seems some people are looking for info on how to edit a qr code’s destination url once it’s been created/published. Now THAT’S the tricky part, and I hope you’e learned what you need to know about that in this blog post above.

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      I can answer one of those questions for sure… YES, Google does have a QR creation tool. However, if you create you QR code with Google’s QR tool, you won’t be able to edit the destination URL or redirect your QR code to a different page in the future! That’s why we suggest not using bit.ly or goo.gl or tinyurl.com to shorten your URLs.

      Another url shortening service that does allow you to edit the long URL is: http://tiny.cc

  4. Hi Rachel,
    Great information! Your directions were very clear. I’ve created two new QR codes using the steps that you provided. I haven’t sent out the mailings with these QRs yet, so they don’t have any views. Before they hit the masses, a few follow up questions … Where do I see them in google analytics? I checked “referral traffic” and they aren’t listed. I’m assuming b/c there is no traffic yet??? Do I have to use “referral” in the campaign medium for them to show up? I was specific about the medium (i.e., one QR is for a brochure and one is for a postcard, so that’s whay I put in those fields). Next question: What do I do if I completed all the steps in the Google URL builder and then want to change the website URL? How do I delete it and start over? Thanks!!

    • Hi Jill, Maybe I can help clarify. Once a few people have visited your website from scanning the QR code, the data will begin to collect in your Google Analytics account (within 3 hours usually). If you entered, “qr” as the Campaign Source, “referral” as the Campaign Medium, and, “brochure” as the Campaign Name, for example, you will be able to see the number of visits in the Traffic Sources > Incoming Sources > Campaign section of Google Analytics, as seen here: http://www.orionweb.net/wp-content/uploads/campaigns.png

      Really, you can put anything you want as the Campaign Medium, but we usually just stick with referral so it doesn’t start creating some segments to sort through, as see here: http://www.orionweb.net/wp-content/uploads/medium.png

      Now, regarding changing the destination URL, there is no way to do that using the Google URL builder, and THAT’s why we then recommend using a URL shortening service like http://www.ShortSwitch.com to shorten your URL after you’ve received it from the Google URL Builder. Once you shorten that URL with ShortSwitch, ShortSwitch will allow you to edit the destination URL. Then, in the future, if you ever want to re-purpose your QR code, you will always have the ability to change the destination of that shorten URL. The reason we suggest doing it that way is because Google’s own URL shortening service does not allow you to edit the destination once it’s been created, but a service like ShortSwitch will!

      • Thanks Scott! Your examples and explanation are VERY helpful. Now … time to start over! =)

  5. Hi All!

    I am dabbling with the QR codes and seeing how we can best use them for our fundraising efforts. I see on Kaywa that you can build QR codes that will dial your phone number when scanned. Is there a tracking mechanism out there for phone QR codes?

    • @ Joanie

      I’d imagine you could do something with vonage.com or Google Voice where you dedicate a unique phone number to a specific marketing effort. There are are also companies like mongoosemetrics.com and clickpath.com that offer more robust services. A new, and very exciting company I heard about recently is, twilio.com. I’m dying to try that out, but have not made the time to research it properly. Only a little drooling and day dreaming so far.

      I hope this helps. Let me know your success on this topic.

      Scott

  6. I created a QR code using a pre-existing URL and did not initially include tracking. I have followed the directions that you gave for using the Google URL builder and then placing that URL into a shortner. I used bit.ly to shorten the url. Now that I have the shortened version of the url, how do I get the QR code to reflect the shortened url so that I can get the tracking information?

    • You can not edit bit.ly url’s so I don’t recommend using that. also, once a QR code is created without tracking parameters and to a direct URL, there is no way to edit that destination. You’ll have to start over with a new QR code it seems, and in the future use shortswitch.com

  7. Scott – I created multiple QR codes tied to specific newspapers . I used the url builder and did everything you said here. But I still can’t find my specific campaign on Google analytics! I’m so frustrated. Will the campaign not show up if there’s been no activity on the code?

    • Jean,

      That’s right. It won’t show up in GA unless there has been activity. Also, if you have filtered out traffic occurring from your own IP address, that will hinder data from showing up if you are testing the URL from your own computer.

      Let me know if you don’t get it working.

  8. Hi,

    I created a QR code on something other than google but I forgot to set up the analytics for it or keep the url of the scan code. Is there any way I can reverse the damage and access the analytics?

    • What is the exact URL you are sending people to?

      If it is not the homepage, it might be possible for you to rename that page URL and our the original content of the page on that new URL. And then, use the old/existing page as your QR code-only page.

    • You can create a special page on your site that only qr scanners can see. Instead of sending visitors to the home page, send them to a unique page that you can measure in Google Analytics.

  10. My QR is for the the above web site. Once it is scanned, the web site redirects to a mobile site through a site builder by “fiddlefly” and that is the site address where I have my google analytics layed. When someone scans the QR using a QR reader app, does the person viewing drop off of my page and on to the reader app page address – Which is why I have such a high rate of drop offs in my google analytics?

  11. If I have a QR code that probably got some scans initially and is no longer getting scans now, is there any way I can get back-data on that code and how much it was used? Unfortunately we did not set up any tracking when we first launched the QR code, so now I’m trying to see if we can measure how many times it was used a month or two ago.

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