Just in case you are unaware, when you do a search in say Google, and you click on your competitions name, you are giving them a “click rating” that ties into their Google ranking.
Never click on the competitions website from a search!! Copy their URL address into a new browser window and view them that way.
Of course with that being said, click on yours! This adds to your ranking.
Remember, each browser has it’s own criteria and formulas that they use to set up a ranking system. So their really are no guarantees that you will be on the first page, this is even for paid services.
Just think of how many competitor’s you have around you? And your all trying to be on the first page. Now what if you all paid? If there’s more than 10 of you, then what?
And let’s remember about the Ad’s, There’s at least 3 Ads at the beginning or end of that first page, so their taking up slots as well.
Now if your on page 10 or more, you may need to look at your key words and double check that your content reflects those words. If you have a Gmail or Google/Bing/Yahoo/Firefox/etc go to their Webmaster Tools and get a number and submit to them.
Make sure they have your Sitemap and Robots files.
On my Links Page I have 4 free website submission sites for you to use. They send you out to various browsers, all you have to do is make sure you answer the verification email and click on the verify link.
Hope this helps!