What address format is the best?
If you are in the UK, then formatting your address fields to Royal Mail’s standards will be required. Below are examples of how a UK address should be displayed and formatted for postage and mailing.
Standard residential address with house or building number and street
| Information | Example |
|---|---|
| Addressee / Contact Name | Ian McSheerman |
| House Number & Street (Thoroughfare) | 20 Prince Street |
| Post Town | London |
| Postcode | SW4 0SB |
Standard residential address for apartment or flat
| Information | Example |
|---|---|
| Addressee / Contact Name | Ian McSheerman |
| Apartment / Flat Number | Flat 16 |
| Building Name (Premise) | Hector House |
| Street (Thoroughfare) | Old Bethnal Green Road |
| Area | Bethnal Green |
| Post Town | London |
| Postcode | E2 0SB |
PO Box address
| Information | Example |
|---|---|
| Addressee / Contact Name | Ian McSheerman |
| Company / Organisation | Melissa Data |
| Department (Not Necessary) | IT Department |
| PO Box Number | PO Box 522 |
| Post Town | LONDON |
| Postcode | E1 5AA |
Standard business address (example 1)
| Information | Example |
|---|---|
| Addressee / Contact Name | Ian McSheerman |
| Premise (If Applicable) | Victoria House |
| Floor / Level (If Applicable) | Level 2 |
| Street (Thoroughfare) | 1 Southampton Row |
| Area (If Applicable) | - |
| Post Town | LONDON |
| Postcode | WC1B 4JB |
Standard business address (example 2)
| Information | Example |
|---|---|
| Addressee / Contact Name | Ian McSheerman |
| Premise (If Applicable | - |
| Floor / Level (If Applicable) | Floor 37 |
| Street (Thoroughfare) | 1 Canada Square |
| Area | Canary Wharf |
| Post Town | LONDON |
| Postcode | E14 5AA |
International address formatting
If you want to post international, the country’s local formatting rules must be taken into consideration to ensure confident delivery. There are more than 100 different address formats worldwide that differ drastically from one another. Some address elements are required for certain countries while other address elements must be omitted from others – not to mention differing placement of address details.
You can try our Address Lookup tool here which will automatically deliver a formatted and verified postal address after entering the first few strokes.
The benefits of formatting addresses correctly
Maintaining properly standardised and formatted global address data has numerous advantages for providers, establishing the basis for downstream processes like change-of-address checking (NCOA), credit and identity checks, duplicate management, and the enrichment of socio-demographic characteristics.
- Potential postage-optimised shipments.
- Route coding capabilities become possible.
- Establishing a basis for (professioinal) master data management.
- Direct marketing campaigns return higher response rates if they reach the intended customer.
- Timely and confident deliveries the first time around, which saves costs on redeliveries.
Melissa – The Address Experts
As the leader in address verification, Melissa combines decades of experience with unmatched technology and global support to offer solutions that quickly and accurately verify addresses in real-time, at the point of entry. Melissa is a single-source vendor for address management, data hygiene and pre-sorting solutions, empowering businesses all over the world to effectively manage their data quality.
