I would definitely pay close attention to Google's announcement about the coming update. Don't follow the advice so many people have been sharing about how to create content. While some of those ideas may still work, we don't know what will survive the new algorithm.
Here's a question instead of advice: after you rank, then what?
Showing up high means nothing if you can't cash in on the ranking. And you won't cash in if you don't convert Impressions into Clicks.
I did a short audit a few days ago for a digital agency website. They had tons of impressions but very few clicks. Ctr was 0.2%. They didn't have a ranking problem, but a ctr problem.
Bumping that ctr from 0.2 to 2% will bring this agency a 10x traffic increase.
So while most folks chase ranking, I'd challenge you to think differently, and chase traffic instead.
If you hope to get insider knowledge that is a secret you can 'win' a SERP with, then you won't find it by asking in public forums. Instead, you generally need to do your own developing of techniques, and then resist showing off about them in public, otherwise it doesn't stay a 'secret' for long.
However, there is a TON of mileage in the stuff that everyone *knows* but very few bother to master. Like learning to create content that attracts its own links. Such a simple, well-known thing, yet so few ever bother to actually learn how to do it. The 'secret' is that you don't have to write content on the topic of your affiliate interests and try to make it interesting and link-worthy. If you can create content, on any topic of your choosing, and have it earn links, it means you can create your own high PageRank pages to get links FROM on demand, any time you need them.
If you operate multiple websites, you can set up an advertising network for yourself and put promos for your various sites on that network. As an affiliate you are always giving someone else free advertising. Don't make the mistake of assuming you cannot afford to do this for yourself.