27 million business cards are printed daily. But why are business cards so popular and how can you ensure your business cards are correct before you invest in printing?

This business card guide will show you how to use free business card mockup sites and how to adhere to business card best practices. Watch the success of your business increase as you invest in networking necessities like business cards.

Benefits of Using a Free Business Card Mockup Maker

If you order out-of-the-box designs from common companies you're sure to come across several business cards identical to yours. Make an effort to stand out with designs that play into your company's unique branding. The benefits of using a free business card mockup maker include:

Branded colors and design

Unique layout and theme

Personalized fonts

Never settling for generic options

Keep your brand top-of-mind whether you're networking to build partnerships or looking to attract new clients. A business card reminds those your business interacts with who you are and what your company does. Make it crystal clear with a customized business card.

Top Free Business Card Makers for New Businesses

Business card makers make for the easy creation of a professional business card for use in your business. Additional business-related tools you can benefit from while you're working on your business card include a Favicon maker and a logo generator. Ensure your branding is consistent by covering all your bases at once.

Check out these free business card makers to get you one step closer to holding a physical card in your hand.

Shopify's business card making tool is as simple as filling out a form. The tool will generate a simple, printable business card from the information you provide through the form.

Design Hill produces beautiful designs using simple software that's easily operable even to the less tech-savvy. Features include:

High-resolution vector files

Print-ready designs

Support available 24/7

Tool powered by AI technology

Designing on Design Hill is completely free and can help you spark inspiration with the use of their professional-grade tools. If you do fall in love with a design, however, you will need to pay before use. But if you're just looking to get started with inspiration, this is the way to go.

Download fully customizable JPG, PNG, and PDF documents of your business cards. Crello offers templates and themes to help you get started if you're less design-savvy.

Crello will help you design a professional-looking business card without hiring on a designer or downloading expensive software.

Use Jukebox's template or start from scratch and design your own personalized card. Templates offered by Jukebox make for easy customization. If you find a design you like, simply add the necessary information and download the design.

Design Mantic is a simple design template for simple, modern business cards. Simply select the layout you want and plug in your own information.

The only personalization options for Design Mantic business cards are uploading your logo and changing the font color. This simplistic method of design will keep you from spending too long fussing over what your cards look like. It's also completely free.

PsPrint is a simple, if not basic, business card creator. It doesn't come with all the bells and whistles but it also comes at no cost to you. PsPrint allows you to:

Add text

Add images

Customize with objects

Apply borders

Incorporate shading

Similar to Crello, Canva is a handy, user-friendly design tool available for free. While there are paid options, you can accomplish quite a bit using a free account. This online software is a go-to for those looking for a top-notch design but who lack Photoshop abilities.

Adobe Spark's business card designer allows for complete customization of all designs using a user-friendly interface. Use professional themes, typography, and iconography to better design your cards.

Adobe Spark features include:

Size and shape personalization

A number of themes

Customization with stock or personal photography

Other Options

If you want to work with a templated design using a company with a purchasing option, try out the following:

Vistaprint

Staples

Moo

Zazzle

These allow you to design your business card within their system and seamlessly move to checkout where you can order the right quantity for your business.

Why You Need a Business Card No Matter Your Industry

Business cards are a portable way to build your brand and stay in the minds of contacts. They can help you leave a good first impression and provide all pertinent information a contact will need to further their business relationship with you.

While much of the business world is conducted digitally, it doesn't mean your business can't benefit from the use of business cards. Exchanging contact information digitally is incredibly impersonal. But exchanging contact information physically through a business card will help your contact remember you connected.

Plus, if you put extra thought and time into your business card there is an additional benefit. Creative, out-of-the-box business card designs tend to get passed around. This means anyone you hand your business card to will then help you fall into the minds of an even wider net of people as they share it with friends, family, and colleagues.

Even if you aren't giving out business cards left and right, you'll want to have updated cards on-hand. Keep them in your wallet, briefcase, or car. You never know when you'll meet someone important and come across a great prospect in passing.

Must-Have Elements of Every Business Card

Sales increase by 2.5% per 2000 cards passed. But if you don't have business cards properly set up with the necessary elements all the networking in the world can't help you.

Business cards can help jog the memory of people you connect with. But without the proper elements, those who wind up with your card may find it too difficult to reconnect or reach out to your business. This means lost connects and lost potential business.

Be sure to include the following on your business cards:

Name of individual

Name of business

Email address

Phone number (including extension if applicable)

Address

Website of business

Job title

Logo

Some of these elements seem like no-brainers. But you'd be surprised what you can forget to include. Before going to a printer, double-check that each important bit of information was included in your business card design.

Other elements that can act as good additional bits of information for branding purposes include a list of services or products, a tagline, and branded graphical elements.

How Can You Make Your Design Stand Out?

Those working across industries and holding a variety of rolls will tell you they wind up with tons of business cards. Just as those who attend art shows and festivals wind up with plenty of business cards from the various vendors they stumble upon. No matter how someone comes to obtain a business card from you, you want your card to stand out from the rest.

A simple way to do this is with the simple use of brighter colors or bold designs. But you can take it a step further using texture and material to make sure your business card leaves a lasting impression. Try out designs using the following elements:

Die-cut designs to add texture

Heavier material to differentiate from other cards

Layered elements or embossing for flair

Added accents using foil or metallic material

A business card that stands out, coupled with a great in-person meeting, will help solidify your brand in the mind of your potential clients and partners. Don't design a card to be too minimal. It just won't stand out against the vast array of complex, interesting, and unique designs.

Business Card Faux Pas to Avoid

Don't catch yourself making these business card faux pas. While you might leave a good first impression, anyone looking back on your card will be put-off by mistakes such as spelling or grammatical errors.

Here's what you should watch out for:

Typos

Grammar mistakes

Forbidden words to avoid

A wrong flip of card if double-sided

Low-quality images

Poor alignment of elements

Excessive variation to fonts

Distracting or difficult to read fonts

Cluttered information

Missing key information, such as email

Prevent these mistakes by double-checking your work and proofreading multiple times. It can be helpful to have a friend or colleague proof the design with you. It's easy to miss obvious mistakes when you've been looking at the same design and text for too long.

Marketing Your Business with Business Cards in the Digital Era

Even in the digital era business cards are still very much in use by businesses and professionals in all industries.

Use the free business card mockup options presented in this article to get started with the layout of your own business cards. If you've been using outdated business cards, ensure you get yours updated as soon as possible. An outdated business card isn't doing much good for your business.

Check out our other articles for more information on best practices for businesses of all kinds.