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Developing a consistent brand starts with creating a brand style guide. These branding rule books help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, community managers, and even product packaging departments all stay on the same page, and present a unified vision of the brand to the public.

The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same logo, fonts, colors, and images. Once we see them enough, they become instantly recognizable, bringing us a clear sense of reliability and security. All of this is possible when each member of your team adheres to a cohesive brand style guide.

In this article, we’ll go over what brand guidelines are, the elements of a style guide, and some amazing examples of them in action to use as inspiration for your next branding project or website redesign.

Picture the most recognizable brands you can think of. Chances are, you’ve learned to recognize them because of the consistency across the messaging — written or visual — these brands broadcast. The same brand colors are reflected across them. The language sounds familiar. It’s all very organized and, while not rigid, it’s cohesive.

Even if you work at a small company, you can also create a brand style guide that takes your company’s visual identity to the next level. But before you sit down to create your branding guidelines, it’s essential to take a step back and define your brand’s mission statement and buyer personas.

These strategic elements will help you dive into the tactical components of your brand style guide later.

Brand Guidelines Mission Statement

Your mission statement is an action-oriented statement declaring your organization’s purpose, making it the compass of your brand style guide. It ensures that all your content is working toward the same goal and connecting with your audience. This statement can guide your blog and paid content, ad copy, visual media, and slogan.

You can either include your mission statement within your style guide, create a separate document that you can reference during the creation process, or distill your mission statement into a slogan that you can place at the head of your document.

Brand Guidelines Buyer Persona

A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. It includes details on your customer’s job title, age, gender, and professional challenges — therefore stipulating for whom your brand publishes content.

Your buyer persona guides your blog content, ad copy, and visual media, which can attract valuable leads and customers to your business.

Download our free resource on how to create your own style guide with brand guidelines templates to follow. Creating a consistent style guide isn’t easy, but with these tools you can build an unforgettable one with ease.

Next, we’ll go over a few elements you’d find in a brand style guide and which parts of a brand they can influence.

Download our free resource on how to create your own style guide with brand guidelines templates to follow. Creating a consistent style guide isn’t easy, but with these tools you can build an unforgettable one with ease.

The Elements of a Brand Style Guide

A brand style guide encompasses much more than just a logo (although that’s important, too). It visually encompasses everything your brand is about — down to your business’ purpose. Here are some key elements that make or break a brand style guide.

Logo

Your logo might seem like the simplest aspect of your branding guidelines, but in reality, it’s one of the most complex and most important parts.

In your guide, you should include a visual of your logo, explain its design details, and describe how it can be used by external and internal publishers (with or without your brand symbol, for instance, or with certain spacing requirements).

You should also include wrong usages — i.e, you might advise against rotating the design or curving the font. That way, whether you or someone else is publishing information about your company, your logo looks consistent everywhere.

If your brand is well-known and many outlets publish information about you, you might want to provide an entire document outlining acceptable use policies for your logo.

Color Palette

The color palette is probably one of the most distinctive and recognizable parts of a company’s branding guidelines. It’s the group of colors your company uses to design its brand assets, guiding every piece of visual content created. These color combinations often follow HEX or RGB color codes, and govern your logo, web design, printed ads, and event collateral.

A brand color palette should not only include your primary color, but also a wide variety of secondary, tertiary, and neutral colors. This will allow you to come up with more dynamic and varied designs in the content creation stage. If you don’t define an array of options, you can run the risk of having your team create content with random secondary colors, which can look inconsistent.

Typography

Typography is a visual element of your brand style guide that goes beyond the font you use in your company logo. It supports your brand’s design down to the links and copy on your website — even your tagline. We recommend specifying a primary and secondary font, with a mixture of serifs and font weights for different use cases.

Remember, the goal of your branding guidelines is to empower your people and external stakeholders to create consistent but varied collateral on behalf of your brand. You don’t want to limit them with a single font option.

For instance, HubSpot’s primary font is Lexend Deca (sans-serif), while our secondary font is Queens (serif). They’re both integrated in our team’s CMS, CMS Hub, and our design tool, Canva, where we can use a wide variety of font weights to create assets.

Don’t forget: Typography plays a major role in your website’s user experience, so you want to make sure it is visually appealing while also being accessible and easy to read.

Imagery and Iconography

You may be able to only include your logo, colors, and fonts in your guidelines, but if you’d like to create a stronger style guide, consider including approved imagery, pre-designed icons, and custom symbols for your company to use across your website and print collateral.

If your budget is smaller, you can recommend photographic styles (i.e candid versus staged, etcetera), and then direct content creators to your preferred stock photo provider (i.e. Shutterstock, Unsplash). Alternatively, you can commission a company photoshoot at a studio and make the resulting photography available for creative use.

Symbols and icons can also be a great addition to your branding guidelines. As with photos, you can always find free icons online and recommend what to use versus what not to use — for instance, you might prefer to use outline icons only, and not full-color. You can also commission custom icons from a freelance graphic designer.

Brand Voice

If your company visuals are the flesh and bones of your style guide, your brand voice is the beating heart.

The importance of your brand voice can’t be overstated. Whether you want your company’s personality to be friendly and casual, or distant and formal, you want to make it easy for marketers, salespeople, and content creators on your team to know how to represent your brand online. This will ensure consistent messaging across all channels.

You can also include a full editorial style guide. The job of an editorial style guide is to commit an editorial stylebook on how to phrase certain products, list topics the brand can and cannot write about, and other companies it can mention. Your editorial style guide can guide your blog content, video scripts, website and landing page copy, PR talking points, and knowledge base articles.

As you can see, the purpose of the brand style guide is to form and maintain all of the various elements of a company that, when combined, spell out the entire brand as it’s recognized.

Intrigued? Check out 21 of the best ones we could find.

1. Medium

Medium simple brand style guide emphasizes usage of its logo, wordmark, and symbol. Medium’s logo is the brand’s primary graphic element and was created to feel “confident, premium, timeless, and modern.”

See the full brand guide here.

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2. Walmart

Walmart is one of the world’s largest and most recognizable brands, so it’s no surprise that its brand guide is extremely thorough.

The guide includes the brand’s logo, photography, typography, illustrations, iconography, voice, editorial style, and more. Walmart’s color palette is so integral to its brand identity that its primary color is called “Walmart Blue.”

See the full brand guide here.

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3. Asana

Asana’s simple style guide highlights its logo and color palette. It also explains how to properly use the brand’s assets.

See the full brand guide here.

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4. Skype

Everyone’s favorite video chat platform also has a squeaky-clean style guide for its brand. Skype, now owned by Microsoft, focuses primarily on its product phrasing and logo placement.

See the full brand guide here.

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5. Barre & Soul

Barre & Soul’s brand style guide includes variations of its logo, logo spacing, secondary logos, supporting imagery, and a five-color color palette.

See the full brand guide here.

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6. Spotify

Spotify’s style guide might appear simple and green, but there’s more to the brand than just a lime green circle. Spotify’s color palette includes three color codes, while the rest of the company’s branding guidelines focus heavily on logo variation and album artwork.

The style guide even allows you to download an icon version of its logo, making it easier to represent the company without manually recreating it.

See the full brand guide here.

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7. Starbucks

Starbucks’ interactive brand style guide includes details about how to use its core elements such as the iconic Siren logo and green color palette.

Plus, the guide features a visual spectrum of how their creative assets can be used across different channels as well as case studies of different seasonal campaigns and product launches.

See the full brand guide here.

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8. Paris 2024

Paris 2024’s brand identity pays homage to the 1924 Olympic Games through Art Deco inspired design. The iconic emblem, color scheme, typeface, and iconography are all detailed in its brand guide. Best of all, designers applied eco-branding methods to Paris 2024’s brand materials to reduce the amount of ink and paper needed for physical materials as well as limit the power and data consumption on digital elements.

See the full brand guide here.

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9. Urban Outfitters

Photography, color, and even tone of voice appear in Urban Outfitters’ California-inspired brand guidelines. However, the company isn’t shy to include information about its ideal consumer and what the brand believes in, as well.

See the full brand guide here.

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10. Love to Ride

Love to Ride, a cycling company, is all about color variety in its visually pleasing style guide. The company’s brand guidelines include nine color codes and tons of detail about its secondary logos and imagery.

See the full brand guide here.

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11. Barbican

Barbican, an art and learning center in the United Kingdom, sports a loud yet simple style guide focusing heavily on its logo and supporting typefaces.

See the full brand guide here.

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12. I Love New York

Despite its famously simple t-shirts, I Love New York has a brand style guide. The company begins its guidelines with a thorough explanation of its mission, vision, story, target audience, and tone of voice. Only then does the style guide delve into its logo positioning on various merchandise.

See the full brand guide here.

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13. TikTok

TikTok’s style guide isn’t just a guide — it’s an interactive brand book. First, it provides an in-depth look into how it brings its brand to life through design. Then, it gives an overview of its logo, co-branding, color, and typography. At its core, TikTok is a brand that “celebrates the relentless energy, creativity, and expression of [its] users.”

See the full brand guide here.

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14. University of the Arts Helsinki

The style guide of the University of the Arts Helsinki is more of a creative branding album than a traditional marketing guide. It shows you dozens of contexts in which you’d see this school’s provocative logo, including animations.

See the full brand guide here.

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15. Ivy Lane Events

Ivy Lane Events’ bold style guide is reflective of the edgy events the company produces. In it, you’ll find a mood board with dark, romantic visuals inspired by “victorian gothic style and vintage book art.” The guide also details the proper usage design elements such as the wordmark, primary icon, secondary logos, color, and typography.

See the full brand guide here.

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16. Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference’s brand style guide includes extensive information about its history, mission, and vision. It also highlights its member universities and athletic championships and awards it is involved with. The brand elements include logo, colors, slogan, patch, and more.

See the full brand guide here.

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17. Discord

Discord’s brand guide is as colorful and playful as the communities it serves. The brand’s motion elements are based on the dot, which represents the Discord user interacting with others in the communities it belongs to. The guide describes usage of Discord’s typography, colors, and icon (lovingly named Clyde).

See the full brand guide here.

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18. Netflix

As far as its public brand assets are concerned, Netflix is focused primarily on the treatment of its logo. The company offers a simple set of rules governing the size, spacing, and placement of its famous capitalized typeface, as well as a single color code for its classic red logo.

See the full brand guide here.

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19. Scrimshaw Coffee

Featuring a six-code color palette, this “laid back,” “cool,” and “eclectic” brand has a number of secondary logos it embraces in various situations.

See the full brand guide here.

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20. NASA

NASA’s “Graphics Standards Manual” is as official and complex as you think it is. At 220 pages, the guide describes countless logo placements, color uses, and supporting designs. And yes, NASA’s space shuttles have their own branding rules.

See the full brand guide here.

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21. New York City Transit Authority

Like NASA, the NYCTA has its own Graphics Standards Manual, and it includes some fascinating typography rules for the numbers, arrows, and public transit symbols the average commuter takes for granted every day.

See the full brand guide here.

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Branding Guidelines Tips

If you want to take your branding style guide to the next level, I recommend following these best practices, which the HubSpot Creative team has used to disseminate branding information to the rest of the HubSpot Marketing team.

This has not only made my job as a blogger easier, but also makes our branding feel well thought-out and cohesive.

1. Make your guidelines a branded document.

Whether you’re publishing your branding guidelines online or creating an internal presentation, consider making the guidelines themselves a branded document. Ensure the published document follows your established brand voice, uses the symbols and imagery you’ve created, and employs the colors and typography that makes your brand feel like you.

When our Creative team rolled out a visual identity refresh for the HubSpot brand, we all received access to a branded playbook that summarized all the changes and described how we should represent HubSpot online moving forward. Not only was I a huge fan of the refresh, but also of the way it was presented to our team in a branded document.

You can do the same, regardless of your budget. Our Creative team actually used a free tool, Google Slides — so it’s totally doable for a small or freelance brand!

2. Name your brand’s colors.

You’ve already chosen your color palette — why go as far as naming the colors? Giving your colors unique names (aside from “blue” or “orange”) can help you tie the tactical elements of your branding into an overall theme or ethos.

Not to mention that it’s awesome to be able to refer to company colors by a unique name. Imagine if we called Solaris, HubSpot’s primary brand color, “HubSpot Orange” — that simply doesn’t have the same ring.

In our visual identity refresh, our Creative team brightened and intensified our color palette, then renamed the individual hues. They wrote, “Every color, tint, and shade is based on central themes. […] Whether it’s a subway line in Paris, or a flower-lined street in Japan, the secondary color names are a veritable tour of important cultural and geographical touchstones from HubSpotters all over the world.”

Think about what makes your brand unique, and why you chose the colors that you did. For instance, if you work at a law firm that specializes in car accident cases, you might choose red as one of the brand colors and call it “Stop Light.”

3. Create easy-to-use branded templates.

Alongside your branding guidelines should be templates to empower your team to easily design branded assets, even if they’re not designers. At HubSpot, we keep all of our templates in our team’s Canva account. There, anyone (myself included) can edit pre-made designs for any number of use cases.

As a writer on the HubSpot blog, I have to create graphics to supplement the information I’m sharing. The branded templates made by our Creative team have made my work a great deal easier — and I can imagine that it’s the same for our Social Media team, when they need to publish an update on any one of HubSpot’s social media profiles.

Whether you run a small or large business, you can benefit from creating at least one template that could be adjusted to different sizes. Not everyone is a designer, but with templates, you can ensure your brand looks professional no matter who creates an asset.

4. Ensure your branding is optimized for all channels.

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Your branding guidelines should include different specifications for different channels — or, alternatively, you should have assets and designs that can be adjusted for various channels and mediums. Not only for sizing purposes, but for accessibility purposes, too.

For instance, if you primarily market your brand over Instagram and on your website, then your branding should have web accessible colors, as well as Instagram-friendly designs and sizes. On Instagram, you might want to avoid small, light typography, and so your font should work well for that channel, too.

You don’t want to significantly change your branding from channel to channel; it should work relatively well no matter where you’re marketing your brand.

Build a Memorable Style Guide of Your Own

Once you build your unique brand style guide, customers will recognize your brand and associate it with all the visual cues you want them to. We hope you were inspired by our list of amazing brand style guides and wish you luck in creating a timeless style of your own.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

From restaurant menus to bathroom stall doors, you can find QR codes just about anywhere these days. In fact, they’ve become so ever-present that 45% of shoppers used marketing-related QR codes in 2021.

There’s no denying the popularity and convenience of the QR code. But, what exactly is it and how can you create one for your next marketing campaign?

Keep reading to learn the magic behind QR codes and how to create your own.

QR codes typically look like this:

Not every QR code is shaped like a perfect square. Sometimes they have unique patterns, colors, and logos displayed inside. You’ll find them in non-digital spaces like direct mail, signage, billboards, and even TV shows where you can scan the code on the screen using your phone.

Both barcodes and QR codes can be scanned using a laser or a smartphone as long as the tool being used has the correct capabilities of reading vertical and horizontal data. Although most smartphones scan QR codes automatically, many won’t scan barcodes so easily — you’ll need a special app for that.

Does the rise of QR codes mean traditional barcodes are a thing of the past? Of course not. Traditional barcodes are still a common way for businesses to identify consumer packaged goods (CPGs) and manage their product inventory.

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However, there are several differences between barcodes and QR codes — both in their uses and their characteristics. Below are three important differences.

QR Codes Are Shaped Differently

Barcodes are typically rectangular, which requires scanning devices to read the barcode’s data horizontally. QR codes are often square-shaped, displaying their data vertically and horizontally.

QR Codes Hold Different Data

QR codes are often used differently than barcodes. Barcodes hold key product information at the point of sale, such as the price and name of the manufacturer. QR codes offer more passive and intangible information, such as location data and URLs to promotions and product landing pages.

QR Codes Hold More Data

Due to a QR code’s square shape, it can hold much more data compared to a barcode. QR codes can hold hundreds of times more encrypted characters than a barcode can.

We learned a little bit about how barcodes and QR codes differ, but how exactly do QR codes work?

Let’s say a consumer sees a QR code. They can take out their mobile device, download a free QR code scanning app, or simply use their phone’s camera, and scan the QR code to gain more information about what they saw.

If you wanted to create, say, a bus stop advertisement promoting your podcast, you could display a QR code on that printed ad that brings people right to your iTunes page when they scan it with their phones. Pretty simple, right?

The QR code creation process is pretty straightforward, regardless of the device you’re using. Here’s how to get started.

How to Create a QR Code on Any Device

Step 1: Head to qr-code-generator.com.

Using any browser on any operating system, head to qr-code-generator.com. Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to use this tool; you can choose any web-based QR code generator. If you need some ideas, check out our list.

Step 2: Enter your URL.

For most QR codes, you’ll want to redirect users to a URL. In that case, enter the URL in the tool. You can also choose from other content types, including contact cards, PDFs, and MP3s. At the bottom, you also have the option of creating QR codes for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files. The exact content options will vary by tool.

After you select the content type, a field or form will appear where you can enter the information that corresponds with your campaign. For instance, if you want your QR code to save contact information, you’ll see a set of fields where you can enter your email address, subject line, and associated message.

Once you enter your URL or upload your file, it will immediately create a QR code that’s ready for download. However, we recommend customizing it to strengthen your brand identity.

Step 3: Customize your QR code’s frame, shape, and color.

The fun part of creating QR codes is customizing the design of the codes to fit your brand. Want your code to contain your logo? Go for it. Want it to reflect your website’s design scheme? No problem.

The front-end generator on qr-code-generator.com offers limited frame, shape, and color options that allow you to customize your QR code. If you want more options, we highly encourage you to sign up on the website and edit your QR code through the tool’s creator portal.

Here’s one example of how you can customize your QR code once you sign up for a QR Code Generator account:

Keep in mind that not every QR code maker offers these design options either before or after signing up. Depending on the QR code you’re looking to generate, you might find some tools limited in their functionality.

Step 4: Click “Download” and save the file to your computer.

If you’re just trying to quickly create a QR code, don’t worry about signing up. Instead, click the Download button.

Your download will start immediately, but the website will try to trick you into signing up. Ignore this message unless you truly want to sign up. At the top, you’ll see a message that says your QR code is getting created and that you shouldn’t refresh the window. A pop-up download window will come up within 2 minutes.

Step 5: Add the QR code to print collateral.

A QR code won’t be able to do its job unless people see it. So make sure you add the code to any materials that will help you market your business. This could include displaying it in print ads, on clothing, or in physical locations where people can take out their phones to scan it. Scroll down for more tips on properly displaying a QR code.

As for how you’ll add the JPG or vector file to print collateral, you can do so with a variety of tools, including:

Canva: Canva is an online design tool that lets you import JPG files and add them to your design. It offers flier and brochure templates for easy creation.
BeFunky: BeFunky is a similar tool to Canva and also allows you to add JPG files to a design. It also offers templates for you to choose from.
Adobe Illustrator and InDesign: If you’re a more advanced user, you can use a dedicated graphic design tool to add your QR code to pamphlets and brochures. Illustrator is a good fit for one-page designs; InDesign is a better fit for multi-page brochures.

If you’re on a mobile device, good news: You can easily create a QR code that you can share with colleagues and prospects on-the-go. You’ll need the Google Chrome app to do so.

How to Create a QR Code on Android

Creating a QR code on an Android device is simple with the Chrome app. You can only make QR codes for URLs, but this is a handy tool for when you need to quickly share product pages or blog posts with someone.

Here are the steps:

Download the Google Chrome app from the Google Play Store.
Navigate to the URL you want to share.
Click the three vertical dots (⋮) on the top toolbar.
Tap Share.
On the pop-up, select QR Code.
Either click Download at the bottom or hold your phone up for someone to scan the code.

How to Create a QR Code on iOS

Just like in Android, you can easily make QR Codes on any iPhone or iPad. Here’s how:

Download the Google Chrome app from the App Store. Note: You can’t create QR Codes from the Google search app, only the Chrome app.
Navigate to the URL you want to share.
Tap the Share button on the upper right-hand corner.
Select Create QR Code.

Either hold it up for someone to scan or tap Share. This option will allow you to print your QR code, save the image to your camera roll, or save it to your files.

How to Create a QR Code for Desktop Using Chrome

Creating a QR code with Chrome on desktop is just as easy as it is on Android and iOS. Here’s how to do it:

Open Chrome on your desktop.
Go to the URL you want to share.
For Linux, Windows, and Mac computer users, navigate to the right-hand side of the address bar, click Share, and select QR code.
For Chromebook users, navigate to the address bar and then QR code.
Either copy the QR link, click download to download the QR code, or scan the QR code with a camera on another device.

How to Use QR Codes (And How Not to)

Now that you see how simple the QR code creation process can be, let’s talk about some best practices that’ll increase the likelihood that your QR code actually gets used.

Display your QR code where it’s convenient for people to scan.

Put QR codes in places where scanning them is easy and there’s enough time for the consumer to scan the code. While you may often see QR codes on billboards and TV commercials, they’re not exactly the most user-friendly locations. It’s a safety hazard to entice people to pull out their phones while driving to scan a code, and a 30-second commercial might not be enough time for someone to find their phone and scan the TV.

Instead, think of places where consumers have the time and ability to scan the code. Places with a strong Wi-Fi connection will help, too.

Optimize the QR’s destination page for mobile devices.

Mobile-optimize the page to which you’re sending people. Consumers will be using their phones when scanning the QR code, so they should arrive at a page with a positive mobile experience.

Include a CTA that prompts people to scan your QR code.

Offer a call-to-action (CTA) with the code — that is to say, tell people what they’re supposed to do when they see the code, and what they’ll receive if they scan it. Not everyone knows exactly what a QR code is, and those that do won’t be motivated to scan it unless they’re sure there’s something worthwhile on the other side.

Don’t limit your QR code to one mobile scanner.

Don’t require a special QR code scanner. Your QR code should be app-agnostic so anyone can scan your code with any reader. A lower barrier to entry makes success more likely for you and the user.

Use your QR code to make someone’s life easier.

Don’t use a QR code just for the sake of using one. For instance, it’s common for marketers to think, “How can I bridge the offline experience with the online experience? Uhhh … QR code!” That’s not wrong, but it’s not always right, either.

If you have content that makes sense to deliver to a mobile user, and you have an appropriate channel to do it (see use #1 at the beginning of this section), it’s more likely your QR code will drive results.

Earlier, we showed you an example of how to create your own QR code, but you don’t have to create it from scratch. A QR code generator can speed up the process (and take a lot of math out of it, too.)

There are tons of QR code generators out there. The best ones give you many customizable options for using your QR code, and compatibility with just about all mobile QR code reader apps.

Other things to look for when choosing a QR code generator are whether you can track and analyze performance in real-time and design a code that’s unique to your brand.

Below are some of our favorite QR code generators that make custom QR codes quick and easy to create.

1. Kaywa

Kaywa is a simple, no-fuss QR code generator that creates basic codes for coupons, URLs, and contact information. Simply enter your information, choose whether you want a dynamic or static code, and generate it.

Why we like it:

If you’re using your QR code as part of a marketing campaign, you can track analytics through Kaywa when you create an account. That way, you’ll have the latest data on who engaged with your code, where they engaged, and when.

2. GOQR.me

GOQR.me is a simple QR code generator that works best with short URLs, but it can be used to store text, geolocation, and event data. Simply click on the icon that corresponds to your data and fill in the fields.

Why we like it:

You’ll get a live preview of your QR code in real-time which speeds things up if you’re adding finishing touches to your marketing campaign. For an additional fee, you can also have your logo added to your QR code by a GOQR.me-affiliated designer for a custom look.

3. Free QR Code Generator by Shopify

QR codes work best when you have something to offer the people who scan them. And chances are, you’re probably selling to people who buy products online with their phones every day.

Why we like it:

Shopify makes it easy to create a QR code in just one click. The best part is that you don’t have to own a Shopify store to use this free tool.

4. Visualead

Looking for a one-of-a-kind QR code that suits your brand to a “T”? Visualead is the tool we recommend for the job.

Why we like it:

Visual QR codes are popular and can generate more interest in your users than a typical black and white code can. That means you could see more scans and engagement on this type of QR code.

5. The-qrcode-generator.com

The-qrcode-generator.com features a simple UI that lets you create a unique QR code in minutes. Simply add your URL or the information you want to share and your QR code appears instantly.

Why we like it:

If you’re creating several QR codes at once, you might find it worthwhile to download the Google Chrome extension for a faster workflow.

6. QR Stuff

As one of the more robust QR code generators, QR Stuff can create codes for just about any type of data you want to share with the world. YouTube videos, Zoom meeting invitations, and even bitcoin information are supported through this tool.

Why we like it:

In just three steps, you’ll have a free, customizable QR code that will function properly and look great. Plus, there’s no limit to the number of codes you can create.

7. Qr-code-generator.com

We used this QR code generator in our how-to guide above, and for good reason. Qr-code-generator.com is a simple tool that’s user-friendly for even the least tech-savvy of us. Simply drop your link into the box, and let the generator do all the work.

Why we like it:

QR-code-generator.com is intuitive. It’ll automatically detect the type of URL you’ve added and produce a QR code in seconds.

8. QR Code Monkey

If the way your QR code looks is important to you, but you don’t want to pay extra for a custom design, try QR Code Monkey. Once you add your URL, you can change the color, add a logo, and further customize the pixels in your code at no cost.

Why we like it:

With QR Code Monkey, the design possibilities are virtually limitless. All you need to create a branded QR code is a creative eye and a little patience.

QR Code Best Practices

1. Sign up for an account on a QR code generator website.

One significant pitfall to making a QR code is that you can’t edit the data it contains once you print it. But by signing up for an account, you can edit this data. This is especially important if you expect to use a lot of QR codes in your marketing strategy.

With a free membership to QR code generators like qr-code-generator.com, you can print a dynamic QR code, scan it, and pull up an editable form where you can modify the data your visitors will receive when they scan the QR code themselves. You can also track performance analytics, which we’ll cover below, and create a new customized version of your code.

2. Customize your QR code.

QR codes can be boring to look at, but not if you customize them as much as possible. If you sign up for an account on a QR code generator website, you can customize your QR code further — adjusting the colors, adding a logo, creating social options, and more.

Keep in mind, however, that some customizations can make it more difficult for QR code scanning apps and smartphone cameras to properly read the code. To cover your bases, it’s a good idea to generate two versions of your QR code — one plain version and another with your preferred design.

Speaking of this…

3. Test the QR code to make sure it scans.

Don’t forget to check to see if the QR code reads correctly, and be sure to try more than one QR code reader. A good place to start is the free tool Google Lens, which takes a picture and then tells you what link or item it “reads to.”

Another great free tool is the app QR Code Reader, which automatically takes you to whatever it “reads.” Most smartphones these days include a built-in QR code reader, so you should test to make sure your code is readable there, as well.

4. Track and analyze performance.

Just like any marketing campaign, you should follow up on any collateral or campaigns using QR codes to see whether they’re actually working. How much traffic comes from each specific code? Are people scanning your code but not redeeming their offer once they get to the landing page? Or are they not even compelled enough to scan your QR code in the first place?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you troubleshoot and adjust poorly performing QR codes to more closely mirror those that work well.

I recommend you include a UTM tracking code on your URL so you can better measure performance. This is particularly important if you use closed-loop marketing analytics or if you perform more in-depth reporting on your campaigns.

Create Your QR Code Today

Now it’s your turn! You’ve spent enough time scanning QR codes, why not make your own? Follow the steps in this article and use one of the free QR code generators we’ve recommended to put your business, project, or event out there in the real world.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Google Sheets templates help you create better spreadsheets while saving you valuable time.

A template knows what you need and offers it without any manual input, giving you the ability to focus on more important things — like translating the data itself.

In this post, we’ll cover every template you’ll ever need to easily and efficiently use Google Sheets for business. That includes templates for project management, reporting, people management, and customer tracking.

You’ll explore:

Why You Should Use Google Sheets Templates
How to Find Templates In Google Sheets
Helpful Google Sheets Templates

Let’s get started.

Why should you use Google Sheets templates for business?

Google Sheets templates are valuable business tools that can be used by teams of any size. Whether you’re a business just starting out or an established enterprise firm, using Google Sheets templates gives you access to countless benefits.

Even if not used as a primary business tool, they can serve to supplement other tools. For instance, you might use a free CRM to track customer information, then use a Google Sheets invoice template to quickly create invoices for each customer.

Let’s go over the top benefits of using Google Sheets templates for business.

Google Sheets templates are free to use.

Google Sheets templates are completely free to use, and they cover a wide variety of needs. You won’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars getting an Excel subscription (or a subscription for another tool).

Everyone who signs up for a Google Workspace account will have immediate working access to these templates.

You have the ability to collaborate.

Google Sheets templates allow your team to collaborate with little gatekeeping. The only thing you have to do is click the “Share” button at the top right-hand corner of a document, and your team members will have access to the file.

You can also limit the collaboration aspect to commenting or viewing only. This is a great option for sensitive documents that only a few people should edit.

Google Sheets templates are intuitive to use.

Using a Google Sheets template doesn’t require much experience with spreadsheets. You don’t need to know advanced formulas and functions to make them work for you.

All you have to do is plug in the numbers and populate the fields. The document will generate a report or calculate a total based on the built-in fields.

Google Sheets templates are customizable.

Using a Google Sheets template doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with its look and feel. You can easily change the fields, the colors, and the fonts using Google Sheets’ built-in tools. This gives you the ability to make your sheets have a brand-specific look and feel.

There’s no data loss.

Another great benefit of using Google Sheets templates? Unless a freak accident happens with Google’s servers, it’s near impossible to lose data.

All changes are stored in the cloud, and Google Sheets includes a version history of the document. You can always revert to a previous version if something happens.

If your laptop crashes or you lose an internet connection, Google Sheets simply freezes the copy until you’re online again. You’ll still want to take a few precautions, such as enabling offline editing and downloading a copy of the document to your local drive.

How to Find Templates In Google Sheets

Ready to find a few templates that you can start using right now for your business? There are two common ways you can find and use free Google Sheets templates.

1. Google’s In-Built Template Gallery

On your browser, go to Google Sheets. Click “Template Gallery” at the top right. Explore the templates to find the right one for you.

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You’ll find different templates for your personal, work, and project management needs. Here’s an example of what the Personal template library looks like.

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2. Add-Ons

Another way to find free templates in Google Sheets is to download and install the Vertex42 add-on. Here’s how.

Open an existing Google sheet, or type “sheets.new” to create a new one.
On the top left menu, go to “Extensions,” then “Add-ons,” then “Get add-ons.”

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Type “Vertex42” into the search bar, and click enter.
Install the add-on.

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To access the templates, click on “Extensions,” then “Template Gallery for Sheets.”
From there, click “Browse Templates.”

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Here you would find templates that can help with almost everything you need — whether you need to create an invoice, income/expense tracker, or a dashboard to manage your projects.

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Let’s now look at some of the free Google Sheets templates you may find useful as you run your business.

Google Sheets Templates

Whether your position requires you to send invoices to clients, track website analytics, or create expense reports, you’ve undoubtedly found yourself working with spreadsheets in some form.

And if you’re anything like me, those spreadsheets can feel frustratingly tedious when you’re under a time crunch.

Fortunately, Google Sheets offers a wide variety of pre-built templates, allowing you to create reports and analyze data faster and more effectively.

The following Google Sheets templates cater to specific categories and allow you to cut hours, if not days, of work in one fell swoop. Let’s go over the best Google Sheets templates you can start using now.

Unlock our collection of 10 customizable Google Sheets Templates.

Google Sheets Templates for Finances

Spreadsheets are a popular tool for bookkeeping and invoicing. Below, you’ll find a curated selection of ready-to-go templates that allow you to:

Invoice clients
Maintain an annual business budget
Generate financial statements
Create expense reports
Generate purchase reports.

The result is a ton of saved time; there’s no need to create or choose any formulas that will help you calculate this data.

1. Invoices

If you’re a freelancer or work for a small business, you probably use invoices to bill clients for services. This invoice template simplifies the process.

It provides space for all the necessary information and looks more professional than a plain spreadsheet. Plus, the template is customizable, so you can create a theme that aligns well with your brand image.

Click here to use this template.

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2. Annual Business Budget

This template is more in-depth than it initially appears. There are tabs at the bottom — setup, income, expenses, summary — and each one includes several subcategories.

“Expenses,” for instance, covers everything from taxes and insurance to travel and customer acquisition.

The final tab, “summary,” takes your income, subtracts your expenses, and automatically updates to display your ending balance each month. This template is a good option if your budget requires a lot of customization and many moving parts.

Click here to use this template.

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3. Financial Statements

The financial statements template is an all-in-one resource to keep track of business transactions, profits, and losses. The “profit & loss” tab automatically summarizes revenue, costs, and expenses for the year and can display your growth rate percentage.

If you work for a small business and need to manage your finances, this template makes the process easier and less prone to human error.

Click here to use this template.

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4. Expense Report

Knowing how much you spend is an essential part of running a successful business. But it’s often easy to forget to record these expenses with the amount of work you have to do every day. This simple expense report template makes it easy to record all of your expenses and those of your employees.

Click here to use this template.

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5. Purchase Order

This template is a lifesaver for professionals in charge of tracking orders. With this sheet, you can save time and avoid the headaches that come with monitoring supplies or shipments.

Click here to use this template.

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Google Sheet Templates for Reporting and Analytics

Reporting dashboards are typically built into a wide variety of software products, such as Marketing Hub. However, if you don’t have the budget, you can easily create one using a Google Sheets template.

The below templates automatically gather data from Google Analytics, putting the information in a highly digestible, visual format that you can share.

6. Website Traffic Dashboard

If your role requires you to analyze website traffic using Google Analytics, this template is a fantastic supplemental tool to pull that data into an organized report.

Better still, you can use the dashboard template with the Supermetrics Google Sheets add-on to monitor and analyze data from PPC, SEO, social media, and website analytics.

Click here to use this template.

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7. Website Paid Traffic Report

This template makes the process of analyzing and reporting on paid traffic relatively seamless. The spreadsheet is split into Overview, 12-month Trends, and Medium Breakdown categories.

It automatically collects data on your paid sources from Google Analytics and provides a clean chart with important information. That includes PPC’s percentage of goal conversions, total traffic, and bounce rate.

You can also adjust the template to compare different periods, different channels, or segments. If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate paid’s influence on your business, this tool can help.

Click here to use this template.

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Google Sheet Templates for Customers

If you don’t have access to a CRM yet or your business is still growing, you can use spreadsheets to track customer information and see the growth of your business.

The below Google Sheets templates allow you to have a CRM and a sales dashboard without paying the cost typically needed for such software.

Remember, as your business starts to grow and you earn more customers, you’ll want to switch over to a dedicated CRM.

8. CRM

To organize your contacts and automate an effective sales and marketing process, you must have a CRM. However, if you’re a small company just starting out, you might not feel ready to implement a fully established CRM.

This CRM template is a great place to get your feet wet. It saves data automatically, so you never lose information. The share feature allows you to work with coworkers, which helps encourage collaboration between your sales and marketing departments.

Click here to use this template.

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9. Sales Dashboard

This template helps salespeople manage their leads, sales, and revenue all in one place. At the bottom of the template are different tabs where you can easily input your data that eventually shows up on the main dashboard.

There’s also an “instructions” tab to get you up to speed to use the sheet. Click here to use this template.

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10. Sales Operations Dashboard

This template contains all the pre-built dashboards a sales manager, analyst, or operations specialist needs to monitor performance and maximize revenue.

Gain full visibility into your sales pipeline, set and track sales targets, and compare sales KPIs across monthly, quarterly, and yearly periods.

You can supercharge this template by connecting to your live HubSpot sales data using the Coefficient add-on for Google Sheets. You’ll always have real-time charts and sales metrics to make better decisions.

Click here to use this template.

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Google Sheet Project Management Templates

Google Sheets project management templates are cost-effective alternatives to buying project management software.

The below templates are best for keeping track of a project’s timeline, creating Gantt charts, creating product roadmaps, and generating action lists. They allow you to color-code and categorize action items and individual tasks.

Pro tip: If you’re managing multiple projects, simply duplicate the initial tab and keep all projects in a single spreadsheet.

11. Project Timeline

Whether this is your first significant project or you’ve been managing projects for years, this timeline template is a valuable tool for organizing each project step. The template helps you visually break up a daunting project into smaller pieces.

Click here to use this template.

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12. Project Tracking

If you’re juggling many projects simultaneously, this project-tracking template could become your new best friend.

This template takes project management to the next level by enabling you to organize your tasks into categories by date, deliverables, status, cost, and hours.

Best of all you can prioritize your projects. Visualizing what needs to get done first alleviates time-management stress.

Click here to use this template.

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13. Event Marketing Timeline

This event marketing template offers organization and structure when promoting your next event.

It provides categories you might’ve forgotten to consider, including local and national marketing, PR, and web marketing, with subcategories ranging from an email newsletter to impact studies.

The template is already organized with all necessary categories for planning an event, reducing the time you spend on tedious manual input.

Click here to use this template.

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14. Gantt Chart Template

When you’ve got a complex project with overlapping components, timing is one of your primary concerns. This Gantt chart template can help.

Using the Gantt chart template helps you visualize all steps and delegate essential tasks more efficiently. Labeling the task with an owner on one chart is undoubtedly easier than individually following up via email.

While there are a variety of different Gantt chart templates, Google Sheets is a good place to start. By sharing the template with coworkers, everyone is on the same page.

Click here to use this template.

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15. Product Roadmap

Without a roadmap, it’s easy for your team to misunderstand the direction you want a project to take. With this template, you can solve that problem.

This product roadmap template provides a calendar summary of a project and the milestones you must reach as you go through the product development process.

Click here to use this template.

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16. Product Launch Plan

This template has everything you need to organize the best product launch you’ve ever had. It has fields to help you outline your market and competitive analysis, project strategy, key messaging, and who your target audience is.

Click here to use this template.

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17. Action List With Ranking

Managing a project requires that you track daily actions to ensure you don’t lose focus. But sometimes, you’ll have some tasks on your list that are more important than others.

You can easily arrange these tasks based on their importance with this action list template. You can also share this sheet with others if you’re working as a team.

Click here to use this template.

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18. Project Budget

Away from the general business budget, most managers create budgets for each of their projects.

This project budget template offers a simple yet effective option. You can quickly estimate how much revenue a project would generate and how much it would cost. While other Google Sheets budget templates might have more detail to them, this spreadsheet is great if you want to focus on the essentials.

Click here to use this template.

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Google Sheet Templates for Leading a Team

Managing a team is easy and simple with Google Sheets templates. No need to send emails back and forth, or check in individually with each team member over Slack.

With this template, you can set employee shifts and track how many hours employees have spent on a certain project.

Plus, these templates are collaborative — meaning that your employees call fill out forms on their own time. The changes will immediately be reflected in the shared copy.

19. Employee Shift Schedule

Keeping track of who works what hours and how much each employee gets paid, can feel confusing.

This template includes slots for employees’ names, hours worked, and monthly wages, keeping your paycheck process straightforward and organized.

Click here to use this template.

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20. Weekly Timesheet

Like the employee shift schedule, the weekly timesheet helps you track time and know how much to pay employees or subcontractors.

This weekly timesheet template works better if you want to quickly find out how much time each employee spends on a project.

Click here to use this template.

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21. Contact List

This template comes in handy if you want to create a contact list database.

You can easily use the template to store your contact information (say, phone number and email address), your employees’ contact, and those of emergency services like the ambulance or fire department.

Click here to use this template.

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Start Using Free Google Sheets Templates

No matter what your job is, using a suitable spreadsheet simplifies the process, and makes it a more enjoyable experience.

So what are you waiting for? Get started with using these free Google Sheets templates to save time and effort, and download ten additional ones to exponentially improve your productivity.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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