When a user searches Google for a certain service or product, Google comes up with a list of local businesses that meet their criteria. While the list used to show the top seven businesses in a group at the top of the page, they have now narrowed that number down to three. Users can click to see all results, but why do so when three good options are already listed? This is why it is important to work towards making that top three, especially if you have a lot of competition in your area. Arguably the most impactful way to move up to the rankings is to earn higher reviews than your competitors. The first step towards doing this is, of course, to offer spectacular products and services. This will drive customers to write reviews on their own. However, if you find yourself lacking in good reviews, there are a number of things you can do. First, respond to negative reviewers and try to work out some way to remedy their problem. Then, you can offer benefits to customers who review your business, like a small freebie or a discount. Remember to always thank positive reviewers for their business by commenting on their review. Rankings are decided in a number of ways, but one of them is the popularity of the business's website (that is, how much traffic the site gets). Start by making sure that you have a professional website for your business and that the website is posted on your listing. Then, start creating original content for your website like articles, infographics, photos, and videos that are relevant to your business or customers. Try to syndicate this content to social media and other websites to increase traffic to your own site. Create this content consistently and build momentum by drawing traffic back with more good content. Even if you don't make the top three listings this way, at least you will have built a highly-trafficked website. Incentivize other websites and businesses linking back to you. This is best accomplished through having good content on your site but your page rank and overall traffic will increase the more external places your links are posted. Citations are listings for your business online. These can be on Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, or any other service that lists local businesses. Having more citations can help you earn a top ranking. There are companies that will create them for you for a fee, but you can accomplish the same result by doing it yourself. Simply navigate to these websites and create a profile for your business. The more you complete, the more your business name and information will be out there. Just be sure to fill out each citations completely and accurately.

Summary: Understand how rankings are displayed. Earn good reviews. Link to your website and build a following. Build up citations.

You can skip straight to the next step to find which country it is made in, but this basic information is easy to check and remember. If the first character is an A, B, C, D, E, F, G, or H, the vehicle was made in Africa. J, K, L, M, N, P, or R as the first character means the vehicle was made in Asia. This includes the Middle East. Note that a VIN never begins with a zero or O due to the ease of confusing these two symbols. S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z indicate Europe. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 indicate North America, including USA, Mexico, and Canada. 6 or 7 indicate Australia or New Zealand. Note that nearby nations such as Indonesia or the Philippines are considered part of Asia for this purpose. 8 or 9 indicate South America. Many vehicles are made in a different country than the one the manufacturing company is located in. Compare the first two characters of the VIN to an online chart like this one, including the first "continent" code described above, and find out where a vehicle was really made. This will also tell you which company made the car. Some companies use the third digit as well to indicate manufacturer or company division. The first two digits should be enough to identify the country and company, however. This method will always work for North American cars, and will often work for cars from other regions. Note that this might be one year later than the car was actually made. A model year of 2008 means the car was probably made either in 2007 or 2008. See below for decoding instructions: A 10th character which is an A, B, C, D, E, F, G, or H indicate the years 1980 1987 in alphabetical order, or the years 2010 2017. J, K, L, M, and N are reserved for model years 1988 1992, or 2018 2022. P means the model year is 1993 or 2023. R, S, and T mean 1994 1996 or 2024 2026. V, W, X, and Y mean 1997 2000 or 2027 2030. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 indicate the years 2001 2009 or 2031 2039. A real VIN never contains the letters I, O, or Q. The year code has additional restrictions, never using the number 0 or the letters U or Z. If you're not sure whether your car is new or old, check the vehicle's 7th character. If this is a number, your vehicle's model year is earlier than 2010. If the 7th character is a letter, the model year is 2010 or later (until 2039).
Summary: Use the first character to discover the continent of manufacture. Use the first two characters to narrow it down to country and manufacturer. Use the tenth character to determine the model year.