I may sound like a narcissistic broken record player, but I'm going to quote myself here. (again)
Merit is a privilege, not a right. So no, there is no obligation that a good post always has to be merited.
I have
never pursued after merit, never tried hard to create an infographic, or GUIDE, or anything of that sort to gain merit. I've just been myself and other members here have rewarded me with merits.
So I would suggest, that you concentrate on interacting with people rather than improving your forum rank. Merits will come on their own then. And earning merits is never about being trusted. This forum has its own
messy trust system. Even this thread seems like a cheap way to beg for merit, but what do I know?