Do not max out your credit cards.
One of the ways the credit scoring algorithm looks at your balance speaks about an individual card. If you are maxed on one credit card then that is one kind of negative. Depending on when the credit card company reports to the bureaus even balances that you proposed to pay off at the end of the month are susceptible and your limit will appear as being maxed out.
Another negative is related to the total credit card lines you have available to you. So, if you have five cards and four have balances greater than 30% of the limit, then you're in trouble. This is why leaving zero balance cards open is a good thing.
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