Universal Business Listing, the brain child of Chris Travers and Doyal Bryant, is, in their own words:

List Once, Be Found Everywhere. Universal Business Listing distributes your businesses profile to all major search engines, social networks, digital maps, and online business directories for the lowest annual fee available. Simply fill out your businesses information and UBL will regularly update and check your information to make sure that you are listed accurately on all major search platforms. Gain access to free tools to monitor the accuracy of your business identity online.

Universal Business Listing helps to ensure that your customers can find your business. Check your business identity for Free now!”

I discuss the reasons you need to participate in a program like this in my article “Why You Need a Local Business Profile“. Please take a few minutes to read it if you’re unfamiliar with the concept.

The differences between UBL and some of the other providers of this type of service:

It’s very low cost, making it affordable and practical for even the smallest business. The fee is $30 for the first year and $19 for annual renewal.

Your listing will not be auto-renewed or charged to your credit card every year. They feel it’s important to review and update your information at least once a year. This policy ensures that their data is fresh. In my opinion, once the local platforms catch on to this, they will give UBL preferred status and their info will begin to trump the info of some other sources who are content to automatically take your money each year without knowing how current the data in your profile is.

Universal Business Listing data does not create a web page (mini website) of that information. This saves them money, which they pass on to you. If this is a service you would like to have, then try some of the other providers listed in the article I refer to above.

They are a repository of business information for the industry.  Period. They will not sell information about you to others or publish it online themselves. All approved directories may access their data at no charge.

They enable your mobile phone numbers to be listed in 411 Directory Assistance. Some business people can work from anywhere and move around a lot. This eliminates their need to have a land line that will forward calls to cell phones.

UBL was just started in January 2008. I believe some of it’s unique benefits will attract many small businesses - and agencies representing small businesses – to provide clean, fresh data about them across the internet.