you need to do a lot of reading and practice a lot. SEO is a broad topic and not something to "grasp quickly" you are on the right spot, just keep reading and read a lot
Find some good material on SEO. Stay away from black hat. Use a good tracking solution to see what works. SEO is always changing so have to stay current.
To learn SEO as early as possible first you need to know basics terms in SEO, further you search the blogs, Blogs will help you more & more to learn SEO as early as possible.