You still need links to rank, just like the old days. However, unlike the old days, you need links from (very) high quality, high relevance sites. Commenting w

You still need links to rank, just like the old days. However, unlike the old days, you need links from (very) high quality, high relevance sites. Commenting won't cut it, blogrolls won't cut it, site-wide footer links (e.g. "Wordpress Theme by MyBlog.com") won't cut it. You need someone that writes regularly for a premier or second tier site to create an editorial link to your post with relevant anchor text. It's hard to get those authors to notice you - really hard - but it does happen. Keep writing good quality content and engage the right people often. Do something nice for them, offer a free tool that's perfect for their niche or help them out with technical stuff. Be a good guy - good guys get good links, given enough time. When you have a few high authority links into your pages, you can link to yourself and distribute that page rank around your site. And when your site moves up the rankings, don't forget to link out to the other struggling good guys out there.