What to put on a business card
The short answer
The six things every business card needs
| Put on | Why | Get it right |
|---|---|---|
| Your name | The thing people search for when they find the card a week later. | The name you go by, largest on the card. |
| Job title | Tells them why they would call you. | Plain words beat internal titles: “Sales Manager, Gulf” over “BDM II”. |
| Company and logo | Context, and a way to look you up. | Logo on the front, not repeated. |
| One phone number | Most people will call or message, not email. | Write it in international format, +971 50 123 4567, and say if it is on WhatsApp. |
| One email address | For anything with an attachment. | Your work address, never a shared inbox like info@. |
| A website or QR code | Somewhere to learn more than fits on the card. | A short address, or a QR code that saves your contact or opens your profile. |
Add these only if your work needs them
- An office or shop address, if people come to you. Remote and field roles can drop it.
- One social profile that does real work for you: LinkedIn for most B2B jobs, Instagram for a designer or a restaurant. Not a row of icons.
- A licence or registration number where clients expect to check it: a broker’s registration number in Dubai real estate, a bar or medical licence number.
- A short line on what you do, if your title does not say it.
- A photo, in work where people buy from a person: property, recruitment, consulting.
- Your name in a second language. In the Gulf and the Levant, English on one side and Arabic on the other is a common layout.
What to leave off
- A second mobile number and a landline. Pick the one you answer.
- A fax number, unless your clients still send faxes.
- Your home address.
- Personal social accounts.
- Slogans, quotes and a list of every service you sell.
- Anything you expect to change soon. A new title next quarter means a box of useless cards.
That last point is why many people now keep the paper card short and put the detail behind a QR code. A digital business card holds your photo, links, portfolio and every number, and you can change it after the cards are printed.
What changes by job
- Sales: a direct mobile on WhatsApp beats a switchboard number. A QR code that saves your contact saves the buyer typing it.
- Real estate: photo, registration number, and a code that opens your current listings rather than one property.
- Consultants and freelancers: what you do in one line, and a link to work you have done.
- Lawyers, doctors and other licensed work: full professional title and licence number, and nothing that reads as advice.
- Event staff: a big QR code and your name large enough to read at a busy stand.
More by industry, including real estate and sales teams.
Standard business card sizes
Design for the size your printer cuts, with a few millimetres of bleed around it.
| Where | Size |
|---|---|
| United States and Canada | 3.5 × 2 in (88.9 × 50.8 mm) |
| Most of Europe | 85 × 55 mm |
| Japan | 91 × 55 mm |
| Credit-card size (plastic, metal and NFC cards) | 85.6 × 54 mm (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1) |
Paper card or digital card: what each can hold
A paper card is still the fastest thing to hand over, works without a phone and costs little, which is why it has not gone away. Its limit is space and permanence: six details, fixed on the day you print.
A digital card opens on the other person’s phone from a QR code, a link or a tap of an NFC card. It can carry a photo, every number and link, documents and a button that saves you to their contacts, and it can change whenever your details do. Many people use both: a short paper card with a QR code that opens the digital one.
A bl1nk card goes one step further: the profile has an AI assistant that answers the visitor’s questions and asks for their details, so a card you handed out keeps working after the conversation ends. Make a free card to see it.
Check before you print
- Call the number and send an email to the address, exactly as printed on the proof.
- Scan the QR code from a printed proof with an iPhone and an Android phone.
- Read every word aloud. Names and job titles are where typos hide.
- Confirm the size and the bleed with the printer.
- Order a small run first if anything is likely to change this year.
What information should be on a business card?
Your name, job title, company, one phone number, one email address and a website or QR code. Those six cover how almost everyone will try to reach you. Add a logo, an address or a social profile only if your work depends on it.
Should I put my address on my business card?
Only if people visit you: a shop, clinic, showroom or office that takes walk-ins. Remote workers and most salespeople can leave it off and use the space for a QR code. Never put a home address on a card you hand to strangers.
Should I put a QR code on my business card?
Yes, if it does something useful: saves your contact to the phone, or opens a profile with your portfolio and links. Print it at least 2 cm across with a clear margin, and say what it does next to it, such as “Scan to save my number”.
Should I put my photo on a business card?
In real estate, recruitment, consulting and other work where people buy from a person, a photo helps them remember who they met. On a paper card it takes a lot of space; a digital card shows it without crowding anything.
What size is a standard business card?
In the US and Canada, 3.5 × 2 inches (88.9 × 50.8 mm). In most of Europe, 85 × 55 mm. Plastic and NFC cards are usually credit-card size, 85.6 × 54 mm. Ask your printer which size they cut before you design.
Should a business card be double-sided?
Usually, yes. Keep the front for your name, title and logo, and use the back for the contact details and a QR code. In the Gulf and the Levant, English on one side and Arabic on the other is a common layout.
