Why it matters to you
Are you a website owner? Snapchat is now letting businesses create custom Snapcodes that launch their website within the Snapchat app.
Snapchat is making its quick response (QR) codes for businesses a little more personal. The company is updating its app to allow websites to have their own QR code. Once scanned, the code will automatically launch the linked website inside the Snapchat app, making it easy for businesses to send users to their website.
An employee of a business looking to use the new feature can simply head to Settings, then select Snapcodes, then hit Create Snapcode. They can then enter the URL for their website, as well as an image that can be pulled from their website or phone, and that image will sit within the Snapchat ghost logo. They can then use the Snapchat QR code wherever they want.
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Individual profiles have had Snapcodes since January 2015. The feature was implemented using technology Snapchat picked up when it acquired Scan.me. What was the point? Well, the codes basically made it easier for users to follow each other without having to type in usernames or search through contacts.
The move makes sense for Snapchat as a way to entice businesses to use Snapchat a little more regularly, and it could help make Snapchat a lot more useful in general for businesses. After all, the easier it is to follow a business and get to its website, the more likely it is that someone will follow that business on Snapchat. Instagram, which is increasingly becoming a competitor to Snapchat, lets verified accounts share URLs within stories, a feature that Snapchat doesn’t currently have — Snapcodes for businesses could be Snapchat’s answer to that.
The new feature comes shortly after Snapchat launched a redesign for its app, which basically made the app far easier to navigate for both iOS and Android users. The Android version of that app was launched early in January, while the iOS version began rolling out on January 23.