Seo for those with small budgets will take some time and should be a long term effort, but the benefits are many. If you don't have the cash to manage using a service or one of the alleged experts, don't worry. You can do this!
And even if you could afford an expert, you should know some basics. Otherwise it's like hiring and accountant and not being able to add. You need some SEO knowledge even if you are outsourcing the job, to know how to shop for an expert, and what to look for and expect in a service.
Meta tags are being pooh-poohed these days, but put them in anyway. Yes some of the search engines will not read them, but others will and since search engine traffic is targeted to you keywords don't turn down traffic even in small numbers. Small numbers interested in what you have to offer, beat large numbers that land on your site accidentally or with no interest.
Another advantage to good meta tags is that they are used by a lot of directories. You will find that when submitting to a number of directories they will automatically pick up and use the description you have entered in your meta tags.
Good original content is very important to SEO. Search engines look for original content and value it more than duplicate content. Make sure your site contains a large percentage of original content, and the more content and pages the better. Add pages on a regular basis, and update pages occasionally to keep the spiders coming back.
SEO off page
SEO on page is the foundation, and you need it, but off page SEO is even more important.
You must get links. You can begin your off page SEO with two way link which are easier to get. Two way links are easier, and they have less value, but they are a starting place and a piece of your optimization strategy.
Submit to directories. You will find many directories that are free and will not require that you link back.
Write articles. This is one of the best SEO values on the internet right now. If you write and submit articles yourself, this can be done completely for free. As you budget has more room, you can automate this process. In the meantime, frequent article submissions will bring you lots of incoming links.
Write a good bio box in the third person. Include anchor text that points visitors and links to different pages on your site. This is one way you can use SEO and direct links and traffic where you want. Put some time into writing bio boxes. This is time well spent.
Forums, blogs, email signatures, and social bookmarking are other off page SEO methods that will enhance your SEO efforts and you should educate yourself on all of them.
Circulating free viral reports is another SEO method that can be accomplished free or for little cost and bring big rewards. There are many more methods of off page SEO that you can use and tweak to get better results. Always consider if there is a new way you can twist and old method to get better SEO results.