It's really, really difficult to know who to accept SEO advice from if you're not sure of what needs to be done. The best advice I can give is to first learn the basics yourself, read Google's latest guide: http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimiza...

I'd also recommend reading some of the guides on seomoz.org - you don't necessarily need to know enough to be able to handle it all yourself, and create your own search marketing strategy, but knowing the basics will help you enormously if you choose the route of pitching for help from an agency or freelancer.

I would generally avoid 'automating' SEO - stay away from software that makes unrealistic promises. There are some tools that can help give basic advice by grading a site, but you should definitely stay clear of software that promises to improve your rankings all on it's own, or software that says it will automatically build a ton of backlinks to your site (9 times out of 10, that software will hurt you in the long run).

If you do choose to eventually hire an SEO, or an SEO agency, you can generally tell the good ones from the bad because they'll be happy to answer any questions you have. Good SEOs will be open and honest, will NOT guarantee to get your site ranking for your selected keywords and WILL sit down with you and run you through a proposed strategy for improving your site, finding the right keywords and working out the most effective way to build good quality links to your site. I'd also recommend asking them for case studies that can demonstrate effective results for previous or current clients.

Good luck!