A lot of people don’t do technical SEO right. It sounds like you’re asking about whether there is something other than technical SEO and links to do right?

Not really. If you write good content, with relevant keywords, and people link to it, that is good SEO. Not clear what distinction you’re trying to draw.

There may be some scammy stuff with short term results, but you’re always one step away from an algo change or a manual penalty.

Edit: I forgot good internal linking/url schemes. Those matter.