And no wonder—if you rank first in search, new customers seem sure to come flooding in and sales to climb steadily.
Above all, when you search for "area name + service name," all you see are the same familiar competitors...
Many company presidents must feel that the sense of superiority when you're listed above them is beyond any question of sales figures (^^;)

Well, setting aside pride and appearances...
It's certainly true that ranking highly for the keywords you're targeting brings you closer to results.

So let's imagine for a moment what happens when you reach number one for your target keyword.

What does it actually mean to rank first for "area name + service name"?

Google, which commands the lion's share of web search, is constantly revising the rules that determine search rankings.
The fundamental thinking behind those rules is consistent from beginning to end: "provide the best possible information for the searcher."

Seen in that light, ranking first for "area name + service name" means being, in name and in substance (within the internet), the most recommended shop or company in the area.
It is said that there are more than 200 factors that determine search rankings, but broadly speaking they come down to three elements: "popularity factors," "on-site factors" and "off-site factors."

"Popularity factors": the number of users and visits to the site
"On-site factors": the site's content (what is published on the site, the number of pages, the amount of text, etc.)
"Off-site factors": the number and quality of links to the site placed on external sites

You could compare it to a shop that actually has lots of customers coming in (popularity factors), has a well-stocked interior (on-site factors), and gets word-of-mouth recommendations from others (off-site factors).
Search rankings are decided by judging all of this comprehensively and objectively. Put that way, it's very similar to how a real-world shop is evaluated, isn't it?

Looking at it from the opposite angle, the reason it's hard to rank first right after building a website is that, no matter how well-stocked the "shop interior" may be, no customers are coming yet and there's no word of mouth from others.
If, after building your website, you neglect measures to attract visitors by linking it with blogs and social media, your rankings will never improve.

You need a mindset of "attracting visitors in order to attract visitors," so to speak. It feels a bit tedious, admittedly.

What happens when you rank first in search?

So what happens once you are recognized by Google in name and substance and finally reach number one?
Your traffic will certainly grow. Click-through rates are far higher at first or second place than at seventh or eighth.
However, how much your traffic grows also depends on the size of your market area.
For example, Hamamatsu City has a population of about 800,000, whereas Fukuroi City has about 85,000—a gap of more than nine times.
Naturally, "Hamamatsu City + XX" can bring in far more traffic. Of course, competition is that much fiercer, so it's harder to reach number one.

Next, will your sales grow? That's a separate matter. In particular, there will be big differences depending on your business model.

For walk-in businesses such as restaurants and salons, more visitors will probably mean more customers in store = higher sales.
For e-commerce businesses too, more traffic = higher sales.
(Although ranking first for e-commerce-related search phrases is often far from easy.)
For B2B businesses, traffic will increase and inquiries will increase. But whether sales grow depends on what comes next: your closing rate.

For example, if you're in the renovation business, requests for estimates will increase.
However, you need to be aware that the prospects you gain through your existing methods and those you gain online are in "different states of mind."

Prospects who come via real-world word of mouth or referrals often already have a relationship of trust with you, so deals close easily.
Online, on the other hand? Even when someone requests an estimate, they may not have decided whether to buy at all. And even if they do buy, they may not buy from you—that's often the situation.
If they searched for "Hamamatsu renovation," a whole row of other renovation companies is lined up alongside you, and the user can compare as much as they like.

In short, ranking first in search increases the work of preparing estimates, but it doesn't necessarily increase your sales.
If your company has dedicated staff for preparing estimates, that's fine, but for a small company without them, the workload can increase sharply.

So what should you do in that case? There are two answers.
One is to show approximate prices on your website; the other is to narrow down the fields you excel in and avoid competing in fields you aren't particularly good at.
By presenting rough prices, customers whose budgets simply don't fit will stop contacting you in the first place.
Narrowing your areas of expertise also narrows your customer base, but competing in fields where your closing rate is higher will raise that rate, which ultimately leads to increased sales.

Of course, it goes without saying that you should also find ways to differentiate yourself from others on points other than price.
That said, especially for small companies, I think it's also necessary to consider a realistic strategy that matches your own resources.