No, you don't have to pay Google just to get first in the listings. I have been doing it for free for about three years now. People do have to pay for some of the advertising that shows up in the boxes on the search page, though.
For your website, for the most part, it all depends on how well the site that hosts your website gets noticed in searches and what keywords that you use that are both visible and invisible in order to get to the top of a search engine. For instance, I'm typing the words How Can I Get Top Listings in Google Searches? Ask Me Help Desk gets excellent coverage when people do searches on the Internet.
I'll bet that if anyone were to type those same words that I just did, that those words in that same order concerning this site, will start to show up very soon, maybe even tonight, if someone is searching for the same thing on Google.
Here is an example for you: Please put the following question into a Google search and watch what happens. You don't even need to use quotes around the question.
How to start up a band instrument repair shop in a rural area?
Please click on the link that you will find concerning this site and read the response that I wrote to someone else concerning a similar concern like yours that they had.
Now granted, people aren't necessarily going to type that same question in a search. However, they might type something like the following if they are trying to find a band instrument repair business or person. The result of the search is on the following link.
Band Instruments Repair Business - Google Search
And then, they might add the city/town and state for where they are wanting to find the business.
There is additional information on the following link that you also might find to be helpful to you.
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/music/...ng-103010.html
Do you already have a website? If so, what is it concerning? Or, if you don't already have a website, what is the subject of your website going to be about, please?
In either case, I can help you with keywords to use on it that will help it to get better exposure and rankings in searches for what you are trying to do.
If you have any further questions, please let me know. Thanks!