You need to know about 1. Onpage SEO 2. Offpage SEO3. Competitor Analysis4. Content Building5. Link Building (also part of Offpage SEO).For content wise, you need to find Rss to html scripts or tickers.The most troublesome part is the link building. You have to write articles, submit links to hundreds of related webpages. The .edu websites are great if you manage to post a link to them. Maintain and checking of the links are another tiring thing. I've gone through all the BS just to get page rank 1. But recently I have found a software with helps a lot in terms of saving effort.
http://www.pigcheers.com/seo/Hope it helps you. It cost some money so its entirely up to you. Read this free when you are free,
http://www.seoguy.com