Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again.
Really cool and interesting post by Derek Powazek here:
The gist is that SEO is not a valid field in and of itself and that good content will rise to the top naturally. Google works all on its own, and part of Google working is not requiring (or allowing) gaming by SEO goons.
Also of note is that traffic is increasingly driven by social media, which I have to imagine is harder to game as it is driven by real people. So the advice is doubly valuable there.