Not a web head, but I am a web dude, so I think I'm qualified
Quick answers, because I haven't had my coffee yet, and I neeeeeeed it.
#1 Google local is a lot easier to rank, so you're in a good position. However, it's still not "easy". What are the Page 1 search results doing that you aren't? Meta tags, keywords, title tags, backlinks, all of this is important. You want to beat them, you must do more.
#2 Absolutely, 100% you can learn to do this for free. Anyone and everyone has the ability to learn search engine optimization, because the concepts really are not that hard to grasp.
However, it's going to take you a lot longer to rank because you're behind the curve and
SEO already takes forever to work anyways (forever being a couple months) Also
SEO is never a one shot thing, and can become quite tedious and mind numbing. You need to consistently work on it to maintain your rankings. I'm talking weekly at the least. That's why outsourcing it is such a big deal, if you want advice on picking a good
SEO dude, I'm sure you can find it here.
#3 There is no such thing as a simple optimization plan. There is on page stuff, off page stuff, social bookmarking, keywords, meta tags, title tags, games of tag (just wanted to see if you were reading everything). A whole host of other geek speak drivel, and the other part is that your campaign is much much different than anyone elses.
There are free tools out there for keyword research (google it), there are ($300) tools out there that let you "see" what your competition is doing for
SEO (google it), and there are tools out there (from free to $1000) that will help you speed up the process.
Not to scare you off from doing it yourself, and if you really want to here are some tips:
Pick the most important keywords you want to rank for. Put them in your title tag
Fill out the keyword meta tag anyway, even though Big G doesn't use them. It's insurance, and won't hurt your ranking
Pay attention to keyword density on your page. Don't stuff your pages.
Focus on one keyword per page, however make it natural. It's called LSI (google it)
Don't expect it to go quickly. SEO is like dog years, two weeks working on
SEO is equal to two seconds human time. Sucks, but that's the breaks. Just be glad you are going for a long tail keyword (google it) and not a broad head (google it)
Then don't even get me started on how even if you have good
SEO and traffic if your site is weak you're not going to convert anyway (but that's another chat entirely). There are plenty of guys on here who will give you a quick rundown of how changes and tweaks.
In summation, DIY
SEO isn't quick, isn't fun, and if your time can be better spent doing something other than spending a couple hours every night in front of your computer, outsource it to a reputable company. It'll be faster, cheaper (your time is money, isn't it? Mine is), and you'll have better results.
Time to get some coffee, let me know if you have any questions.
PS. Shoot me a PM and I'll do a quick breakdown of what your competition is doing
SEO wise. It'll give you an idea of a battle plan.
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