Geocoding API

Use geocodes, addresses, and demographics to streamline your business operations!

What is Geocoding API?

Geocoding API is an API-based geocoding tool that enables you to find the geocode or latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates of a location/address. Geocoding API is one of the tools that enable businesses to understand their customers or target audience better.

Geocoding API is a relatively new technology for businesses, and they are yet to find the full potential of geocoding API in their business operations. Even though it is still in its infancy, geocoding API has already gained popularity among businesses for its ability to streamline business operations.

Reverse & Google Geocoding

Reverse Geocoding

It is the process of determining the address of a location using geocodes or latitude and longitude coordinates as input.
Geocoding API typically comes with a reverse geocoding capability and can be used to optimise certain business operations.

Google Geocoding

Google offers one of the easiest ways to determine geocodes (latitudinal & longitudinal coordinates)of a location through Google Maps.
Geocoding is not used by businesses as it is sometimes termed unreliable as Google Maps are known to provide the wrong geocodes for a location.

What You Should Look For in a Geocoding API

Accuracy

Accuracy is the most significant measurable aspect that can be used to assess whether a geocoding API can meet your business requirements.
There are majorly four different geocoding systems, and each system has a different geocoding accuracy.
The four major geocoding systems are Postcode Centroid Geocode, Interpolated Geocode, Parcel Centroid Geocode, and Rooftop Geocode.
Postcode Centroid Geocode and Interpolated Geocode only give you the general area or street of the location/address you are searching for.
The Rooftop Geocodes is the best among the bunch, as it provides highly accurate, rooftop-level geocodes even though it is expensive.

Reliability or Uptime

After accuracy, reliability is the most desired aspect businesses look for in a geocoding API.
Reliability or uptime refers to how long your geocoding system can stay up and running.
Businesses often run a performance test to determine whether a geocoding API can meet their unique requirements.
A performance test can reveal if a given geocoding API will be reliable under stress.
Reliability/uptime is not a significant consideration factor for businesses or users that are only looking for one-time use.
Testing the reliability of geocoding API is crucial for businesses that intend to use geocoding API regularly.

Speed

Speed is a vital factor when it comes to choosing an API, and it is the same for geocoding API.
Sometimes APIs like geocoding are not allowed to run at full throttle because, as humans, we may not be able to catch up with them.
A slow geocoding process can affect your business operations and may prove to be vital in time-sensitive projects.
If your business demands batch geocoding capability, then it can significantly affect the speed of the geocoding API you use.

Limitations

The most convenient way to evaluate whether a geocoding API is right for you is to check what the geocoding API can’t do.
You must first define the things that you wish to accomplish by integrating a geocoding API.
The restrictions of a geocoding system reveal what it can’t do for your business, and you must check this against the pre-defined geocoding requirements.
If the limitations of the geocoding API include one or more major business functions being hindered, then it is best that you don’t use that API.

Tech Support and Documentation

As geocoding is relatively new in the business circle, and the expertise of businesses that do use geocoding API is limited.
You need good tech support and documentation from the service provider to utilise the full potential of the geocoding API.
Good tech support means you can easily have any technical issues fixed concerning the API.
Good documentation can give you good actionable DIY solutions to problems that you may face with their system.
It is best to go for a well-reputed geocoding API that comes with commendable tech support and documentation.

Geocoding Applications

Commercial or Marketing Operations
Geocoding API works best for commercial or marketing operations. The newly obtained information from the API is further incorporated into the business analytic process for making better business decisions. Some of the major business operations that are optimised by employing geocoding include Targeted Messaging, Location-Based Personalisation, Distance-Based Marketing, and Advanced Insights for Intelligent Business Operations.

Healthcare
Healthcare is one of the fields, which greatly benefits from geocoding API as it allows healthcare officials to assess the accessibility level to healthcare facilities in their locality. Additionally, geocoding has proved itself to be significantly reliable when it comes to epidemiology, particularly for tracking the patterns of an epidemic disease.

Finance Sector
The finance sector is another field that found convenient applications of geocoding API. The major application of geocoding in the finance sector is to find the lending activity in a specific community or neighbourhood. This includes important demographic data that can be crucial in assisting financial businesses to grow business.

Public Safety
Surprisingly geocoding API also helped certain operations that greatly improved public safety. The most significant effect geocoding has on public safety is in directing emergency responses. You can often see that street files are used along with the data obtained through geocoding API for this.

Military
With the capabilities offered by geocoding, it is not hard to imagine that geocoding has great scope for military applications. The NATO military uses Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) as their standard geo-coordinate system. Using such systems gives the military the upper hand when it comes to navigational operations.

Benefits of Geocoding

Identify Geographic Patterns that can greatly help marketers, law enforcement authorities, and sometimes even scientists.
Manage customer data better by mapping the target’s location and using the same for advanced targeted marketing strategies.
Analyse address data to help government officials track the population growth of a specific geographic area.

Is Geocoding API Wrong Choice For Your Business?

There is no question about the numerous advantages that geocoding can bring for your business, but it is not necessarily the right choice for your business despite its many advantages. Businesses typically don’t use geocoding alone. Direct mail efforts often complement them as a part of their marketing strategy.

More advanced and holistically evolved direct mail tools with address validation can give you reliable data, including geocodes. Such tools have capabilities and multiple functions that the marketers value highly, making geocoding API obsolete, at least for the time being.

Geocoding API Alternative

As we have briefly mentioned before, the most reliable alternative to geocoding API is a fully automated direct mail tool, preferably one with geocoding capability. Such a solution can serve your business in a more holistic manner with its multiple functionalities. Direct mail automation tools come equipped with advanced address verification APIs that can be used for geocoding. Furthermore, they are optimised for getting the best results for your marketing efforts. They are also popular for providing verified and clean data which can effectively optimise your business operations.

postgrid bulk address verification solutions

Address Validation API or Geocoding API?

Geocoding API is still in its infancy and it is yet to develop into an effective marketing tool. Whereas, Address Validation API has already evolved into an ideal marketing tool and has the potential to generate a much higher ROI. Furthermore, having easy access to advanced direct mail tools with geocoding capabilities makes dedicated geocoding APIs redundant.

Advanced direct mail automation tools, like PostGrid, have access to PAF or Postcode Address File – the official address database of Royal Mail. Systems like PostGrid even come GDPR compliant, ensuring that you always have the correct data. This, in turn, ensures that all your business operations are optimised.