You’re familiar with QR (Quick Response) codes, right? They’re those pixelated black-and-white printed squares that look like one of the defense blocks at the bottom of a late 1970s-era “Space Invaders” screen after you’ve shot them up pretty good (or, maybe better, a geek’s Rorschach test).

I’ll bet you’ve seen them around Austin, especially during South by Southwest, when they appeared on clothing, posters, fliers, stickers and hats. And now they’re beginning to pop up everywhere. You’ll find them on business cards and in advertising. You’ll see them at restaurants and big-box stores. And they frequently appear on band and theater posters plastered on bulletin boards at coffee shops and bookstores.

As mentioned in our previous post the “SEO Checklist” adding social media buttons to a website isn’t just important for social media sharing, but extremely important for SEO as well. You can go to each of the major social media websites to grab social media buttons from there, or you can add your own. There are also sharing add-ons like AddThis or ShareThis which are external services. We don’t recommend you use these since most of your traffic is redirected through their URLs which give the SEO credit to them, and not you. If you aren’t worried about SEO, the they are a very easy way to add your social media buttons.

In the same way that websites, then MySpace URLs, and more recently Facebook pages started appearing in TV, magazine and newspapers ads, we’re starting to see more QR codes appear in traditional advertisements.

QR codes have been spotted on direct mail pieces, movie posters, business cards and in Times Square. Whether they’ll have the staying power of your website or of your MySpace page has yet to be determined, but while they still enjoy the buzz of the “next big thing,” you can take advantage of QR codes in marketing your small business.

What is a QR code?

A QR code is a 2-D barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera and transfer information. Based on the type of code it is, it might direct the viewer to a website, make a phone call, deliver a vCard or more.

Top Online Scams [Infographic] compliments of

Better Business Bureau