In this era of networking, you can communicate with people sitting in the other corner of the globe almost instantaneously.

You may think at such times, why would we even need to write a letter?

However, traditional mediums of communication never lose their essence. There can be circumstances when you would need to write and send letters to various people.

Such situations require you to meet the necessary format used in writing a letter.

Most of the time, you may write letters for business purposes. One of the best examples of this is when you want to join an organization.

During this time, you need to write a cover letter and send it to the hiring manager. Hence, such letters not only decide your job but also pave a path for your career development.

And what if you write the addresses in the wrong order on the letter? It will not only lead to late delivery but will exhibit your amateurism. Hence, writing the correct addresses in the correct order is necessary.

First of all, there are locations that are very difficult to navigate. Writing a detailed address can help the letter to reach the right place within a short time.

Secondly, writing letters for business purposes always require the individuals to pay attention to details such as formal salutations, street name, city name, etc.

Address Writing Format

Writing an address on a letter has a particular structure. Following this structure can increase your chances of making a good impression on the recipient.

So, incorporate the following rules and formatting in your letter.

Sender’s Address

You may think, why would we write our own address on the letter when we are the one sending it.

But, what if the recipient wants to reply to your message? Moreover, what if it does not reach its destination?

In such situations, the authorities will parcel it back to you.

Additionally, the recipient will want to know who sent them the letter, and where do they reside?

The address of the sender is written on the top left corner of the letter.

Name

Before starting the body of your letter, it is crucial to write your name. You should write your name in an unabbreviated form that looks professional.

But some letters may require you to write your name at the end of the letter as a signature. In such cases, you should not initiate your address with your name and instead, write it at the bottom.

There can be circumstances when you have a common name, or you may think that the recipient may confuse your name with someone else.

In such situations, you can even write your middle name or use various other suffixes. For example- Alex Arnold Benjamin.

Write your professional titles in front of your name, like Doctor, Reverend, etc., if any.

If you are writing a letter to a friend, it is acceptable to use your nickname or an abbreviation. For example, you may write Sue for Susan, or Joe for Joseph, etc.

Company’s Name

After writing your name, write the name of the company in which you work. This is written in business letters where you address the employer for specific purposes.

However, if you have decided to write your name in the end, initiate your letter with the company’s name itself.

If you want, you can also write your job title below the company’s name. This will enable the employer to know who you are.

For example,

Alex Benjamin
XYZ Limited
Chief Assistant Manager

Street Name

You can start your address with your street number. After the street number, write down the street name and the apartment number, if any.

Avoid composing abbreviations like Rd for Road, Ln for lane, etc. Also, you should not separate the street number and the street name with a comma.

For example,

7854 XYZ Lane

City and State Name

After writing the street name, write your city and state name in the next line.

First of all, write the name of your city, then put a comma and write the name of your state. After writing the state name, leave some space and pen down the pin code of your address.

You can even write the postal abbreviation of your state. Moreover, if you are sending the letter abroad, then it is crucial to write the name of your country in the next line.

For example,

Chicago, Illinois 78951

Contact Information and Email Address

If you find it comfortable or necessary, then jot down your contact number and email address in the letter. This will help the recipient to communicate with you easily in case of any confusion.

First, mention your phone number and then the email address. However, it can be a possibility that you want to mention two phone numbers.

So separate the phone numbers by mentioning their purposes. You can use words like “Personal” and “Office” before the phone numbers.

Date

After writing the address, you should write the date of the day you are composing the letter. Do not write the date of the day when you initiate the letter.

Instead, write the date of the day when you complete it.

It serves as a verification for the time of the day you wrote it, and the day the recipient got it. You should always write the name of the month in words. After this, write the date and year in numbers.

For example,

September 13, 2020

Recipient’s Address

Leave a line after the date and write the recipient’s address. This means that you have to write the recipient’s address on the left column of the sheet.

You can write the business address of the person for business matters. However, use their home address for personal issues.

Start with writing the name of the recipient. You can also use titles such as Mr, Ms, Doctor, etc. with the name of the recipient.

Moreover, you may be composing the letter for business purposes. In such cases, you can mention the job title of the recipient in the next line.

Knowing such titles will help you to make the letter more personalized.

In case you are jotting down the letter to get a job opportunity, then such information exhibits your research and interest in the organization.

After the job title, pen down the company in which the recipient works in the next line. After this, you can mention the street number and street name in the next line.

Both these elements are separated by space.

Then you need to follow the same format as you followed while writing your address. This means that write the city name, state name, and the pin code of the location in the next line.

A comma separates the city and state names. However, the state name and the code are separated by some space.

If you are writing the letter to a recipient who lives abroad, then inscribe the name of their country in the next line.

For example,

Dr. Lewis Edward
Assistant manager
XYZ Co limited
123 Colonel Street
Los Angeles, California 43259

Conclusion

In the end, you should make sure that you write the name and address of the recipient correctly.

You can conduct research or make use of your augmented networking outreach to find the name of the recipient, in the case of an official letter.

When writing business letters, make use of the digital platforms and search through the social media accounts of the company.

Moreover, you can go through the website of the company. Here, you can find the “About Us” page or the “Teams” page.

Such pages have the names of the people working in different job posts.

Similarly, the LinkedIn profile of the organization has the names of the people working in the company. Know the name of the right person to whom you are sending your letter.

Before sending your letter, it is crucial to proofread it. This is because any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors can exhibit your irresponsible nature and dilettantism.

To help you with this, you can use Grammarly which will show you your grammatical errors and let you know how to correct them.

Moreover, you can get your letter read by friends or relatives before sending it. Make sure that the name and address are written in the right manner, which can lead to timely delivery.