Good, and if possible, original content in your site or blog. "content is king.", so goes the saying.
1. Keyword in domain 2. Keyword in title 3. meta tags (for relevant ads) 4. A paragraph of original content near the header, with keyword in h1 tag 5. Keywords in alt tags 6. A paragraph of original content near the footer with keyword in h2 tag 7. 5-10 pr backlinks with keyword in anchor 9. not more than 10 outgoing links 10. keyword density of 6-9% thats more than enough to rank high depending on keyword. if the keyword has low competition, you will show up on 1-3 pages in serps even without backlinks.