Review site + SEO. Still a viable method?

Hey all.

I've been off the scene, distracted by my offline stuff over the last 2 years but am determined to get back into some passive income generation.
Just a handful of questions.

Wanted to see if some of the old methods still work, or if things have changed much...

I rather like the good old "niche review website" model.
Useful, informative reviews of different products, with affiliate links, and driving traffic through SEO.

Is this still a common and worthwhile method?
Are people turning to Facebook and other methods for sources of traffic, or is SEO still huge?

I like the idea of using Facebook to generate traffic and conversions. Are there any proven techniques? I'm guessing viral potential helps a lot.

I believe Google have made it harder to nail down good keywords, and EMDs are gone, and fresh content is the order of the day. Is that about the size of things?

Is Wordpress still the daddy or have people turned to Squarespace?

I guess I just need to get primed again. Just don't want to bark up the wrong tree.

Thanks so much for any helpful insights.

 

Anyone?