There are a number of ways to improve your credit score, but most will take time. Beware of anyone offering to quickly "repair" your credit, especially for an up-front fee. There is no quick, magic way to improve your credit score if it is based on true (but negative) information. Instead, you'll have to work over time to build a good credit history. As you do that, your score should improve.

Inspect your credit report and correct any errors

This is one step that you can and should take quickly. It won't affect your score to request and check your own credit report. One common error is the inclusion of debts that aren't yours on your credit report. This might be a debt of someone with the same name as you, or a debt that your insurance company should've paid but didn't.

If you find errors, contact each consumer reporting agency that produced the report with the error. Tell them you want to dispute an item of information. You can also directly contact the creditor listed on the item. However, the agency will contact the creditor itself while researching the dispute. If the dispute isn't resolved in your favor, and you still believe the information is wrong, you can include an explanation in your credit report accompanying the item.

Pay on time

Late payments and collections can hurt your score more than anything except not paying at all or filing for bankruptcy.

Apply for credit only when you need it

Don't open accounts just to have a better credit mix. Applying for too much new credit is one of the easiest ways for people to accidentally harm their credit score.

Keep balances low on credit cards and other revolving credit accounts

High outstanding debt can affect a score, so pay down your full balance each month or keep the balances low.

Pay off debt rather than moving it around

Don't close unused cards as a short-term strategy to raise your score. Owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts may lower your score. You would be using a higher percentage of your available credit.

Get a secured credit card, if you have no credit or cannot get credit

If you have no credit score or are unable to obtain any type of credit then the first step to take is to obtain a secured credit card. This is like a debit card that reports as you put money on a secured card and they report positive every month. This is also a paid service to a credit card company where you pay a small fee every year. There are also secured loans you obtain to help increase your score.