First of all understanding the ovulation cycle will inevitable aid in your mission for conception. There are many keys to look for during your monthly cycle. Every woman is different and so you should be aiming to make a cycle chart to consider and note all the changes your body is producing.However your cycle may last anywhere between 21 to 35 days. The first day of your period is counted as day 1.

If you are looking to not use all of the technical gadgets that are marketed, being overpriced you can look for natural changes within your body. There are two main changes your body naturally goes through around the time of ovulation and those are:

Changes in cervical mucus:
Around the time and just before you ovulate you body is going through a major transition from one hormone to another. During the pre-ovulation phase of your cycle the dominant hormone is estrogen. Estrogen refers to a group of hormones that stimulate growth and strengthen tissues. It is needed to build up the lining of the uterus so that it may nourish and sustain a fertilized egg. When talking about fertility, the kind of estrogen is called estradiol. This estrogen is produced by the developing ovarian follicles and later, in increasing amounts, by the dominant follicle before it is released at ovulation.
Estrogen has many roles in reproduction:

Estrogen signals the release of LH (Luteinizing Hormone) which is necessary to trigger ovulation.

Estrogen is needed to build up the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) so that a fertilized egg can find nourishment and implantation may occur.

Estrogen produces cervical fluid which is necessary for the sperm to travel to the fallopian tube where the egg may be fertilized,sperm can surviver longer in cervical mucus, even up to 72 hours.

Estrogen causes the cervix to soften and open so that the sperm may enter and reach the fallopian tube for fertilization.

Some signs of an increasing amount estrogen that you may easily observe on your own are the presence, quantity and consistency of cervical fluid and the position and texture of your cervix. These signs offer some of the best indicators of your fertility status, they are natural and save much money with all these technical gadgets such as ovulation predictor kits.

Changes is your Basal body temperature or BBT.
The best way to test your BBT is first thing in the morning before you even get out of bed. If you are keeping a chart you will be recording this everyday for a month or two. The main indicator through BBT is a sudden peak in your BBT. This peak will be the day you ovulated.

It is important to remember that you only have approximately 2-3 day window to conceive. These days are the build up to ovulation and the day of actual ovulation. The egg will only last a few hours maybe a day, however sperm can live anywhere around 72 hours. So in answer to your question...
... the best chance you have at conceiving naturally is to chart your cycles and find you fertility window....

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