I participated in forums until I knew enough, then I researched after that. I did it this way instead of going straight into Google searches because I thought it would be best to get a general understanding of it all first by browsing comments from real people, and learning terminologies, personal tips, etc. so I'd know what to look for. When I tried searching for SEO the first time without consulting with like-minded people first, I often just got overwhelmed with all the information, and some sites I landed on felt too much like it was selling me something, which I find very off-putting. Eventually, I got fed up and just joined forums like this, which definitely makes learning more fun and the information is much more genuine too.