Mobile barcodes and local shopping: Higher Images launches QR Codes

Higher Images is a Pennsylvania company that makes you more visible on-line. It works in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – the subtle art of appearing at the top of the Search Results page. And Higher Images has just announced that it will be using mobile barcodes to make businesses more visible to locals.

What’s the story?

Higher Images has a service called Search Magnet Local (SML) – which is focused on making your website appear first on local searches. So if you’ve got a shop that sells couches (for example) in a particular city neighborhood, SML is designed to make your website leap to the top of any search performed for couches in that area. It is this service that Higher Image is adding barcodes to.

How will the barcodes work?

QR codes are one of the most popular open standards for 2d barcodes worldwide. Higher Image is integrating them with the SML platform. Any SML client can print out QR barcodes that will connect a cameraphone to their SML mobile website – which hosts coupons, ads and videos for the business.

What we think?

Effectively, Higher Image isn’t offering these businesses anything they can’t do already. It makes a big deal out of saying that the barcodes can be printed on posters, business cards or any other kind of ad… but you can just generate your own QR code anyway, you don’t need Higher Image for that. All you’re really getting here is an SML branded QR code.

That’s not really the important thing, though. A small retailer may be able to use QR codes without Higher Image, but they probably won’t have heard of them. Now, thanks to Higher Image, they might start using the 2d codes to communicate with their customer base. Educating retailers and consumers at a local level about mobile barcodes is never a bad thing.