Welcome to the unlimited black hole of SEO and optimization. Someone at the bottom of that vacuum may have Google’s algorithm decoded, but the rest of us are still working on it. Like a lot of tech, SEO is constantly evolving, but it’s all based on the credibility of your site.
If I’m being honest, SEO is one of the tech website things I’m less thrilled about, perhaps just because I don’t know if I’m for sure effective at doing it. Getting a site into peak SEO readability certainly takes some work, and there probably isn’t a perfect way to do it, but ultimately you can become findable if you’re in a specific enough niche.
When SEO is hard, I always say you should give yourself a break. The big companies that score top searches for popular things have been around for years and hire a professional staff to work on it full time. Of course your average side job effort isn’t going to match that. But, it is going to help. You’re going to make progress. Your site, user base, and interface will improve. You’ll get there. You don’t have to be the best, you just have to reach people, however few it is.
When life is hard, give yourself a break too. The perfect people that seem to score perfect lives around you have probably put a lot of time and money into their seemingly flawless attributes and talents. Of course your struggling effort isn’t going to match that. But, it is going to help. You’re going to make progress. You will improve. You don’t have to be the best, you just have to reach people, however few it is.