How to Set Up QR Code Conversion Tracking (Step-by-Step Guide)

A high scan count tells you people noticed your QR Code. It doesn’t tell you whether they booked, bought, or signed up. That distinction matters: scan volume is a vanity metric until you can connect it to something your business actually cares about. 

This guide shows you how to set up QR Code conversion tracking using QRCG and Google Analytics 4, so every scan has a measurable outcome on the other side.

Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.

Key takeaways

• QR Code scans alone don’t prove campaign success. Conversion tracking connects scans to real business outcomes like leads, bookings, and sales.
• UTM parameters are the foundation of QR conversion tracking: they tell your analytics platform where traffic came from and why.
• QRCG’s URL field accepts UTM-tagged URLs, and the scan dashboard gives you a head start before you even open GA4.
• Setting up a GA4 conversion event (a “key event”) lets you tie QR scan traffic to specific on-site actions, closing the attribution loop.

What is QR Code conversion tracking?

QR Code conversion tracking measures how many users took a desired action after scanning a QR Code. For example, you might want users to fill out a form, sign up for an account, or make a purchase after a QR Code scan.

To calculate your conversion rate, you’ll need to figure out what percentage of total QR Code scans led to these actions. For this, you’ll need to integrate your QR Code tracking solution with Google Analytics 4 or another marketing analytics tool.

Scan volume shows you whether your marketing tactics generated initial engagement, but conversion rates tell you whether that engagement led to tangible growth or value for your brand.

Why scan data alone isn’t enough

When you’re using QR Codes for marketing, tracking scan data alone won’t give you the full picture of your audience’s preferences and behavior. You’ll also need to track conversion rates, or you’re leaving valuable insight on the table.

A conversion can be any post-scan action you want customers to take. That often means making a purchase, but it can also mean signing up for an email newsletter, creating a loyalty program account, or booking an appointment. Anything that creates value for your brand counts.

Say your SaaS brand has a booth at an upcoming event, and you’re including QR Codes on flyers and event signage to send visitors to a sign-up page for your upcoming webinar. With conversion tracking, you can see which QR Code placements led to complete sign-ups, not just landing page visits.

Who should set up QR Code conversion tracking?

QR Code conversion tracking is especially helpful for teams who already rely on codes to move audiences through the marketing funnel, including:

• Event and field marketing teams
• In-house marketers launching print or out-of-home campaigns
• E-commerce brands using QR Codes on product packaging
• Restaurant and hospitality brands that use QR Codes
• B2B companies using QR Codes for trade shows or conferences

You don’t need to be a developer to set up QR Code conversion tracking. You just need access to QRCG, Google Analytics, and an understanding of how conversion rates work.

Static vs. Dynamic QR Codes: What you need to know before you start

Before you get started, understand the difference between Static and Dynamic QR Codes. 

Static QR Codes have the destination URL built directly into the code, so you can’t edit, redirect, or track them after they’ve been published.

Dynamic QR Codes use a redirect to send scanners to the destination URL. This means you can add UTM parameters for conversion tracking, and you can also edit the QR Code destination if your campaign changes. Only Dynamic QR Codes support conversion tracking.

To use Dynamic QR Codes, you’ll need to sign up for QR Code Generator’s paid PRO plan. It gives you access to the scan analytics dashboard, as well as the ability to add UTM parameters, which are necessary for tracking scan activity in GA4.

The conversion tracking stack: What tools are involved

To track conversions for your QR Code campaigns, you’ll need the right tools:

• QRCG subscription for creating QR Codes, adding UTM tags, and monitoring scan volume and analytics.
• Google Analytics 4 to track conversion events, attribute website sessions to specific marketing strategies, and create performance reports for stakeholders.
• Google Tag Manager is optional but can be helpful if you want to configure tracking for advanced conversion events without coding.

Google Analytics 4 is the most popular conversion tracking tool, but you can also use Meta Pixel, HubSpot, or similar tools, depending on what your tech stack looks like.

Step 1: Define your conversion goal before you build anything

Once your tools are in place, sit down with your marketing team and decide what conversion goal you want to focus on. Think about what action you want users to take after scanning and where they’ll land after the conversion happens.

Here are a few real-world examples of realistic, relevant conversion goals:

Pro tip: Don’t skip this strategic step. A defined conversion goal improves tracking and helps you make data-driven decisions to improve future campaigns.

How to choose the right conversion event for your campaign

Your conversion event needs to be tied to a specific action in your online customer journey in order to track it. That could be landing on a specific page, submitting a form, or clicking a certain button.

Page-based conversion events are the easiest to track in Google Analytics. If your post-scan sales funnel already has a dedicated confirmation page or thank-you page, tie your conversion event to those page visits.

If you don’t have a confirmation page in place, you can also track form submissions or button clicks. This gives you more specific data on your audience’s behavior, but it’s also more complicated to set up, as you’ll need to use Google Tag Manager.

Step 2: Build your tracking URL with UTM parameters

Next, set up the UTM parameters for your QR Codes. UTM parameters are text tags you can add to the end of a URL to track where your web traffic comes from. When someone visits that link, the UTM parameter records the source of the traffic in Google Analytics.

UTM parameters are what make conversion tracking possible. Here are the three required UTM parameters for QR Code campaigns:

• utm_source identifies where the traffic is coming from. In this case, the tag should reflect the QR Code’s location, such as trade-show-flyer, product-packaging, or in-store-signage.
• utm_medium indicates the marketing channel you’re using. In this case, you’ll use qr-code for all tags.
• utm_campaign is the specific marketing campaign the QR Code is associated with, such as spring-promo-2025 or booth-launch.

A complete URL with UTM tags will look something like this:

example.com/pagename?utm_source=product-packaging&utm_medium=qr-code&utm_campaign=spring-promo-2025

Once you’ve finalized your URLs with UTM tags for each QR Code, you can paste them into QRCG to create your codes quickly. If you need help building your URLs, Google’s Campaign URL Builder tool makes the process easier.

Optional UTM parameters worth considering

Several optional UTM parameters can help you get even more accurate conversion data in specific situations:

• utm_content helps you track web traffic from specific campaign elements, so it works well in situations where you’re using two different QR Code variants in the same campaign. For example, you could use utm_content=table-tent and utm_content=register to differentiate between them and see which gets more scans.
• utm_term is useful for identifying specific keywords or search terms associated with a campaign.
• utm_id lets you track traffic associated with specific advertising campaigns you already have set up in Google Ads or Meta Ads.

UTM naming conventions that keep your reports clean

Consistent naming conventions help keep your QR Code analytics and conversion data accurate. One of the most common mistakes is using spaces instead of hyphens when creating your UTM parameters. If you use a space, it will encode in GA4 as %20, resulting in reports that are difficult to read and interpret.

To prevent this, establish standard naming conventions and communicate them to your entire team. For example, use ‘qr-code’ rather than ‘QRcode’ or ‘qr_code’.

You can even create simple naming templates to revisit every time you need to create a new UTM parameter, such as: utm_source=[brand-or-placement]-[campaign-name]-[year]

Step 3: Generate your trackable QR Code in QRCG

To create your Dynamic QR Code, enter the full URL with the UTM parameters into QRCG’s generation tool. QR Code encoding for conversion tracking requires UTM parameters attached to the URL. If you only use the base URL, tracking won’t work.

When your code is ready, finalize the design details, changing elements like the color, pattern, and frame. Be sure to download a high-resolution version that will look great on printed materials.

Once your QR Code is active, you can monitor scan-level metrics in your QRCG’s dashboard, including total scan volume, scans over time, device type, and approximate location (city/country-level, depending on your plan). This gives you another layer of data you can use to monitor QR Code performance.

Customizing your QR Code for campaign use

With QRCG, you can customize your QR Codes to look more appealing and align with your brand’s visual identity. Customized QR Codes often see higher scan volumes than generic black-and-white ones, both because they catch more eyes and because they look professional and trustworthy.

Depending on your plan, QRCG offers several design customizations—plus a ton of free options, like frames, colors, and shapes, and even your logo. Just make sure that the QR Code is high resolution and uses contrasting colors to support easy scanning.

Step 4: Make sure Google Analytics 4 is properly installed

You’ll also need to set up GA4 on your QR Code’s destination website. There are two primary ways to do this. One is to add the gtag.js code directly to your website, which requires some coding experience. The other is to install GA4 with Google Tag Manager, which is much easier for marketing teams without developer access.

To make sure it’s working, open the GA4 Realtime report and visit your QR Code destination page. If you see a session in Google Analytics, it’s working properly. If not, you may need to reinstall GA4 or troubleshoot your QR Code before moving on.

Step 5: Set up your GA4 conversion event

Next, set up conversion tracking in GA4. Say your conversion event is a confirmation page that visitors see after they make a purchase. Here’s how to track it:

1. Navigate to the Admin page, then select Events under Data display.
2. Click +Create event, then use the page_view event.
3. Under Choose how to create an event, choose Create without code.
4. Enter the URL for the confirmation page.
5. Click Create.

Once the event is created, make sure it’s marked as a “key event” by toggling Mark as key event next to the event listing. This ensures the event shows up in your conversion reports.

It typically takes GA4 24-48 hours to start processing your data. After you set up the event, you can verify it’s running in the Realtime section immediately, but you’ll need to wait at least a day to see Acquisition report data.

Setting up conversion tracking via Google Tag Manager

Tracking conversions in Google Tag Manager is more complex, but it’s necessary if you want to track button clicks or form submissions that don’t have a confirmation page.

To do this, you’ll need to create a custom GA4 event for your conversion event, then tag that event in Google Tag Manager and create a trigger. (It may be helpful to work with a developer if needed.)

How to track bookings as conversions

There are a few ways to set up bookings as a conversion event in GA4. Some third-party booking platforms have native integrations with Google Analytics, which makes it easy to mark confirmed bookings as a key event.

Other solutions, including Calendly, OpenTable, Acuity, and others, offer booking confirmation pages or post-booking redirects. If your platform doesn’t have a native integration, you can add UTM parameters to the confirmation page URL and track page visits as a conversion event.

How to track purchases as conversions

Purchases are another common conversion event, especially among e-commerce brands. To track purchases as a conversion event, you can use GA4’s e-commerce tools to attribute the purchase to QR Code scans.

Keep in mind that for this to work, the purchase must happen in the same session. If the user closes their browser and comes back to the product later, the attribution model may not credit the QR Code scan.

Step 6: Test everything before you print or publish

Before you launch your QR Code to the public, test to make sure it’s working properly:

• Scan it with a mobile device (test with both iOS and Android).
• Confirm it lands on the correct URL, with your UTM parameters in place.
• Complete the conversion event.
• Go into your GA4 account, select ‘Reports’ and ‘Realtime’, and look for a session with the correct UTM parameters.
• Check for the Key Event in your Realtime event stream.

If these steps go as planned, your QR Code is ready to publish. If the UTM parameters aren’t in place and the session isn’t showing up, you’ll need to troubleshoot. The most common cause is redirects or URL shorteners that strip UTM parameters.

That’s why it’s so important to use a Dynamic QR Code instead of a Static one. If a Static QR Code slips through testing and goes to print, there’s no way to fix any URL errors.

Step 7: Read your QR Code conversion data in GA4

Once you’ve published your QR Code, you can track conversion data directly in Google Analytics. There are a few places where you can find relevant QR Code data. The first is in your Traffic Acquisition report. Filter by utm_medium=qr-code, and you’ll see every session attributed to your QR Code traffic. 

You can also see QR Code data in your Exploration reports. By building a custom exploration with specific campaign, source, and medium tags, you can see conversion events for individual QR Codes.

Some key metrics to watch include:

• Sessions: The number of people who visited your site from the QR Code.
• Key event: The number of people who completed your conversion event.
• Conversion rate: The number of key events divided by the number of sessions, or the percentage of visitors who took your desired action.

Using QRCG’s scan dashboard alongside GA4

Combining QRCG’s scan metrics with your GA4 data gives you deeper insight into your audience’s behavior. In addition to calculating conversion rates in GA4, you’ll get valuable engagement data you can use to inform future scan placements.

Step 8: Optimize based on what data tells you

With your QR Code conversion data in hand, you can optimize future campaigns to improve performance. For example, if a QR Code has a high scan rate but a low conversion rate, you may need to adjust the landing page copy to resonate more with your target audience.

You can even launch A/B testing campaigns to fine-tune your QR Code marketing. Create two different QR Codes for the same campaign and use different utm_content parameters to track them separately. Then compare variables like placement location or landing page design to see which generates more engagement.

Common QR Code conversion tracking mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Here are some common roadblocks to watch out for when setting up your QR Code tracking, plus how to fix or avoid them:

• Using Static QR Codes: This type of QR Code isn’t trackable, so use a Dynamic QR Code instead.
• Generating the QR Code from a base URL: For tracking to work, you have to apply UTM parameters before generating the QR Code.
• Inconsistent UTM naming: Without consistent naming parameters, you’ll get inaccurate or confusing reports. Standard naming conventions make reports easier to interpret.
• Skipping pre-launch testing: A quick test gives you a chance to troubleshoot before your campaign goes to print.
• Not marking the conversion event as a “key event”: This setting must be toggled for your conversion event to show up in tracking reports.
• Using a URL shortener for your QR Code link: URL shorteners automatically strip UTM parameters, so GA4 won’t read them properly.

QR Code conversion tracking for specific industries

Brands across a variety of industries can benefit from QR Code tracking:

• Restaurants and hospitality: Place QR Codes on table tents linking to online ordering platforms, then track conversion rates for completed orders.
• Healthcare and wellness: Put QR Codes on waiting room or check-in desk signage and link them to an appointment calendar, then track conversion rates for confirmed bookings.
• Retail and e-commerce: Add QR Codes to product packaging that link to a loyalty program sign-up page, then track conversion rates for form submissions.
• Events and trade shows: Display lead capture form QR Codes on booth materials or badges, then track conversion rates for completed forms.
• B2B SaaS: Print QR Codes on direct mailers or conference signage linking to a free trial page or demo request form, then track conversion rates for downloads or scheduled demos.

Turn scans into measurable outcomes with QRCG by Bitly

QRCG provides the foundation for your QR Code conversion tracking. All of the platform’s Dynamic QR Codes support URLs with UTM parameters, and you can customize the design and export it in a high-resolution format.

Once a QR Code goes live, you can monitor the number of scans it gets in real time, along with other engagement metrics, and use GA4 to monitor the broader customer journey through conversion.

QR Codes deliver the most value when you can tie their performance to real business outcomes. QRCG helps you create custom branded Dynamic QR Codes with UTM parameters built in, ready for conversion and engagement tracking.

Sign up for QRCG today to create your first trackable QR Code.

FAQs

Do I need Google Analytics to track QR Code conversions?

GA4 is the most common tool for conversion tracking, but it’s not the only option. Meta Pixel, HubSpot tracking, or other analytics platforms can also be used, depending on where your conversions happen. The key requirement is that your QR Code’s destination URL carries UTM parameters and that your analytics platform is set up to capture the conversion event you care about.

What’s the difference between a QR Code scan and a conversion?

A scan is recorded when someone uses their camera to read the QR Code and load the destination URL. A conversion is a specific action taken after the scan, such as submitting a form, completing a booking, or making a purchase. Scan data tells you reach; conversion data tells you results.

Can I track conversions from a QR Code that’s already been printed?

Only if it’s a Dynamic QR Code. Dynamic codes use a redirect, which means you can update the destination URL (including adding UTM parameters) without reprinting. Static QR Codes encode the URL permanently. If UTM parameters weren’t included when it was generated, there’s no way to add tracking after the fact.

How many QR Codes do I need for proper A/B testing?

Create one unique QR Code per placement or variant you want to compare. For example, if you’re testing two landing page versions or two physical locations, each should have its own code with a distinct utm_source or utm_content value. This way, GA4 can report on each independently.

Why does my GA4 report show QR Code traffic as “direct” instead of the correct source?

This usually means the UTM parameters were not correctly appended to the URL: either missing entirely, malformed, or stripped by a URL shortener or redirect. Test the full URL by opening it in a browser and checking the address bar before deploying. The ? separator before the first UTM parameter and & between each subsequent parameter must be present and properly encoded.