Branding
How to use short links on business cards
A card outlives your current landing page. Print a branded slug or a dynamic QR you can retarget when the job or the calendar changes.
Zipy editorial · 2026-08-12 · 6 min
Key takeaways
- Print a path you can edit. Do not engrave a 80-character query string.
- The host should look like your name, not like a lottery ticket.
- A QR plus a human-readable slug covers cameras that fail and people who type.
Cards are inventory
You will hand the same stack out for a year. The Calendly, the portfolio, and the office address will move. A managed slug on a host you own is the cheapest reprint you will never do. go.you.com/card or meet.brand.com/alex is enough to say out loud.
Anonymous shorteners look careless on heavy stock. People decide whether to type the URL in a second. Branding is the whole point of putting a link on paper.
QR and typeable path together
Some rooms have bad light. Some people will not open a camera at a mixer. Print both: a dynamic QR large enough to scan, and the same public path in type you can read without a loupe. Keep one destination behind both unless you are testing placement on two card versions.
What to put behind the slug
A short page with the action you want this quarter: book, download, or WhatsApp. A twelve-button bio page is a lot to ask from a first meeting. You can retarget later when the conversation changes. Put the card slug in a campaign if you also run ads — you will see whether paper still earns clicks.
Related: what-are-branded-links · how-to-use-qr-codes-for-restaurant-menus