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There are two sets of facts that you need to have before moving forward with any type of SEO strategy or fix. The first is understanding what the problems with the site are, and the second is knowing what can or cannot be done to fix them.
When putting together your options for moving forward, understanding these facts will help you sort out which options are viable and which are not. Moving forward without being fully aware of all the facts leads to poor decisions based off of an incomplete or poorly considered set of options.
Once you know the problem and have a set of options to work from, you then need to be sure to fully understand the potential implementation of each of these options. Some options are simply not as workable on some sites as on others. Knowing what you're working with and how each option may play out within the confines of your site matters a great deal.
As an SEO we have to be fully aware that every change to a site could have potentially negative consequences. Granted most strategies have been proven to produce a positive impact on websites, but this isn't true 100% of the time.Before moving forward with any change to a site you have to consider both the long- and short- term consequences. Any short-term negatives have to be weighed against the overall long-term gains. In many cases the overall gain isn't worth the losses that'll happen in between. A good example of this is changing URL structure just to get keywords in the URLs. The gain will be minimal while the temporary loss in rankings can be significant.
One of the hardest things to do in SEO is to manage expectations properly. An SEO selling their services will often promise miracles to get the sale but then tell the client not to expect miracles at all. SEO is never a magic solution and often times what we think will be an easy job turns out to be anything but. It's like peeling back the layers of an onions. You get one problem solved and that uncovers several more problems.
One of the primary issues with keeping expectations in balance is ensuring that client knows what they can expect for the investment they have made. Sometimes you promise little but the client expects a great deal, even though they are paying for very little. It's important that the client knows what they'll be getting for the service they have paid for and understand that sometimes you have to pay more to get more. My personal philosophy on (time) is, don't do yourself what you can pay someone else to do for you. Especially if you know they can do it more quickly and efficiently. (H)
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