Yes there is plenty of informative matter available on net for your reference, you just need to search for it & read....
You can find loads of various articles relating to SEM online. They will generally only inform you of the basic elements to improve your websites performance but it's better than nothing. In my experience if you want to really improve your positions then it's always best if you use a proper SEM company. Just make sure that they have proven results though because there are a few cowboys out there.