What is Address Verification & Standardization?

In many cases, data is static. For example, the gender of the people in your mailing list will probably never change. Data such as email addresses and mailing addresses fall into a different category. People move. They change their mailing addresses. The post office changes ZIP Codes. The street names can change. Address data changes and can change often. Companies that do not implement processes that evaluate and update the address data in their address lists regularly will run into significant data problems. That's where address verification and standardization comes into play.

Address Verification

Smart data managers use address verification software to verify addresses in their lists. Address verification (also known as address validation) is a process that compares an address in an address database against official government data and tries to match the records in the two databases. If no match is found, the engine will attempt to correct the address, verify it, and return a valid address. For example, it may correct the spelling in the address record or update the street name.

Other types of services can also be applied against to verify address lists. For example, Delivery Point Verification (known as DPV Processing) can verify that the USPS actually delivers mail to an address. Another popular address verification process attempts to update the addresses in your address list by comparing them with a list of people who have changed their address.

Address Standardization

After the information in an address is verified, it should go through an address standardization process. While address verification attempts to verify the validity of the address, address standardization attempts to format the address to the post office standards. This includes using the correct abbreviations, the correct city names, the correct ZIP Code or Postal Code formats, etc.

Address verification and standardization is usually combined into one process. This process can greatly improve the delivery rate of your mail and is an important service for any company maintaining mailing lists. Please contact a Qualified Address Sale Representative for more information on the mailing list software solutions available from QualifiedAddress.com.