Welcome to the forums!
I'd suggest reading the following:
Common Abbreviations
What Steps do I take, DV, PFD or GW
Credit Scoring 101
This will give you an idea of where to start. Good Luck!
547 is pretty low, but I've seen lower. Look at my signature below. As far as how long it will take to raise you're score, no one really knows. We need info. What's on your CR? Where did you get that score? What baddies do you have? What postives do you have?
Start with pulling your FREE CR's from (ACR) annualcreditreport.com . they tend to have more info on them, then ones from a 3rd party. The CR's from ACR, come directly from each of the CRA's. You can pull 1 Free CR from TU,EQ and EX every 12 months.
Save your money and Don't Buy the Scores, they are what we call FAKO's.
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.