The short answer
You can only track scans on a dynamic QR code, because tracking needs something between the phone and the page. A dynamic code sends every scan through a short link, and the short link records the time, the rough location, the device and which rule applied, then passes the person on. A static code has nothing in the middle, so it cannot be counted directly.
Here is what gets recorded, what does not, and how to set codes up so the numbers answer a real question.
What a scan records
When someone scans a HueQR dynamic code, the redirect logs:
- The time, which gives you scans by day, weekday and hour.
- The country and city, worked out from the network, not from GPS.
- The device type, operating system and browser.
- Which rule applied, if the code has device or time rules.
What is deliberately not recorded
No IP address is stored and nothing is set on the person's phone. Repeat scans from the same device within ten seconds count once, so a nervous double tap is not two people. Link previews from chat apps and search crawlers are stored as bots and never counted, which matters more than it sounds: share a link in WhatsApp and three bots fetch it before any human does.
Make one code per placement
The most useful tracking question is not how many scans, but which placement earned them. One code on the window, another on the table tents, a third on the receipt. Give each a name and a placement in the dashboard. Now the analytics page can show that the window gets scanned at lunch and the receipt gets scanned at home at 9pm, and you know where the next print run goes.
Add UTM tags for your website analytics
Scan counts tell you the code was read. Your website analytics tell you what happened next. HueQR can add UTM tags to the destination automatically, named after the code, so the visit shows up in your analytics with the source set to the QR code. Then you can see whether people who scanned the poster actually booked, bought or signed up.
Tracking a static code, roughly
If you must print a static code, add UTM tags to the address before you generate it. Your website analytics will count visits that arrived through the code. You will miss scans that never loaded the page, and you cannot change the tags later, but it is far better than nothing.
Reading the numbers honestly
A few things that trip people up:
- A spike on the day you shared the link online is probably people clicking, not scanning. The device and city breakdown usually gives it away.
- A code scanned once a week is doing its job if it sits on a product people buy once a year.
- Zero scans on a code is a placement problem long before it is a design problem. Nobody scans a code they did not notice.
Questions
No. You see when, roughly where, and on what kind of device. Scans are anonymous, and HueQR stores no IP address and sets nothing on the phone.
Next step
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