What are common results of no SEO work? I have implemented very little SEO tactics on my blog, although I know WP comes with a lot of SEO built in, that I have taken advantage of. Still, only a week after publishing certain articles, I have seen my site rise through the ranks and actual get first or second page on some interesting search phrases such as "guitar calluses" or other related phrases that each article is about. Is this normal for a blog, and how well could I improve if I took further SEO action?
This is a freshness boost (or honeymoon period) - it will fade after a time and your rankings will drop...this is typical of new sites. Take advantage of it while it's there and use it to linkbait and draw new links to your site. You'll still have a lot of SEO work ahead of you as this is temporal.
If you use Wordpress then you are already most of the way there in terms of onsite optimisation. The key now is to get other sites to think that your site is so cool and useful they will link to it naturally.