The demand for cheap and affordable cost of fabrication and increased power conversion energy of DSSC has made most researchers sought for better ways to optimize individual parts of the cell to improve its efficiency. Thus, this paper reviews different ways to synthesize and fabricate an improved DSSC for renewable energy power generation. This article reviews the various fabrication techniques of FTO in DSSCs as well as incorporation of graphene for optimization of the DSSCs. Optimization of DSSC using FTO was reviewed with the various method of fabrication (Hydrothermal methods, CVD, Sputtering and Spray pyrolysis) for an effective light harvesting. Then, we discussed the application of graphene-based material into the various parts of the photoanode (transparent conducting electrode, semiconductor layer and dye molecules) as well as the counter electrode. Incorporating graphene into the photoanode as discussed can improve the efficiency of the cell due to its unique properties leading to a better dye absorption, improved charged separation, and excellent electrical conductivity thereby resulting in improved performance of the cell. Finally, an outlook for other trends in optimizing DSSCs was provided.