Geocoding is the process of turning standard addresses, such as “10 Downing Street, London”, into precise geographic coordinates that a computer can use for map plotting.
Dynamic maps use digital coordinates for latitude and longitude, e.g. 51.5034° N, 0.1276° W for 10 Downing Street. The coordinates are generally expressed as latitude followed by longitude. A minus latitude will be south of the Equator, positive to the north. A minus longitude will be west of the Greenwich Meridian, positive to the east. Thus 10 Downing Street will be geocoded for a web map as 51.5034, -0.1276.
When you type an address into Google Maps or a Satnav, or when ordering an Uber, the service instantly geocodes it by searching its massive location database and returning the exact latitude and longitude, which the map then uses to centre the view and drop a pin. For individual users, this feels effortless and is completely free — you can search one-by-one for as many addresses as you like without worrying about cost.
However, if you need to plot hundreds or thousands of addresses at once (for example, from a business database), the public one-by-one search box is completely impractical. You need to bulk geocode the addresses. But large-scale geocoding requires dedicated infrastructure and comes with licensing limits and costs.
Geocoding with Maproom
In Maproom’s Dynamic Mapping Suite, we use a mix of Google Maps, Mapbox and our own postcodes database for geocoding.
- The UK Postcodes search field inside the Locations Plotter’s + Add a list tool is free for bulk geocoding – it uses our own database of 1.8 million UK postcodes. You feed in a list of postcodes, one per line, and they are automatically geocoded and plotted on your map. There’s no limit: it is always free for postcodes.
- The address / placenames anywhere search field lets you geocode up to 500 daily in batches of 50.
- If you need to geocode more than 500 general addresses in a single day, the Worldwide Premium Geocoder costs £10 per 1,000 addresses – it uses the Google Geocoding API for worldwide coverage. You feed in a list of addresses, one per line. You can even feed in partial addresses, with missing postcodes, and it will usually find the right thing. (But obviously the more complete your addresses, the higher chance of success.)
After geocoding, you should then download the spreadsheet of results and import the spreadsheet to your Locations Plotter map.
Geocoding FAQs
For the UK Postcodes Geocoder we use what Royal Mail provides for the centroid coordinates for postcode units – that’s the centre point of an area covered by a full postcode, e.g. SW1A 1AA. It’s the accuracy you get when typing a full postcode into a Satnav. In other words, it will get you to the right area, but unlikely the precise building. In terms of the bigger postcode sectors, districts and areas, we have calculated centroids ourselves.
For the Worldwide Premium Geocoder, we use Google’s Geocoding API, which is widely regarded as having the largest and most comprehensive database of locations and address data in the world. This is because Google collects information from many sources at once: its web index, Google Business profiles, Street View imagery, satellite data, user contributions, and partnerships with mapping and postal organisations. All this information is constantly updated, corrected, and cross-verified. The result is that Google’s API can recognise an enormous variety of addresses — from precise house numbers in small villages to major landmarks and even informal place names. In many cases, it also handles spelling mistakes, partial addresses, or local naming quirks better than other services. This coverage makes it especially powerful for applications that need global accuracy or must work reliably in regions where other mapping datasets are patchy.
Yes. Google charges for the geocoding process – the number of addresses it’s given to find – not the results.
If you have a separate column for UK postcodes – great! Copy just that column to the Postcodes Geocoder for instant free geocoding. But if your addresses do not have postcode separation and are broken into columns such as “Address Line 1”, “Line 2”, “Town”, “Country” etc, run a concatenation formula in your spreadsheet to get the full address into one column. (Ask AI to help you with the formula.)
Yes. You can buy multiples of 1,000 credits and 10,000 credits. E.g. Quantity 4 of 1,000 credits, plus quantity 2 of 10,000 credits will give you 24,000 credits.
In theory you can, but processing and loading speed will depend on server load at the time you’re attempting to geocode. At that level you are into the realm of super-heavy user and likely to need extra support. Contact us for advice.
No. Unused credits will remain in your account even if your Dynamic Mapping Suite Pass (and maps) expire. However, you will need to renew your pass to re-access the Premium Geocoder.
It’s certainly nicer to read and say 3 words instead of long numbers, but What3Words have to be translated back into actual number coordinates before they can be positioned on a map. Contact us for advice if you have What3Words data.