Implementing SEO techniques, I change some of my local URLs and I also change some of the content and structure of my articles. The articles in question only have a few if any backlinks. How likely is that Google might penalize my site in any way due to my gradual SEO actions, not counting the lost effect from possible backlinks? Is it best to make large changes and maybe change local document url, or is it best to do small changes. Again, it is probably wise to ignore the effect of any backlinks in assessing . the question. And one other thing. People are talking so much about meta tags in this forum. I didn’t think they mattered.
if you do make changes, be sure to forward each old URLs over to the new ones, or you will definitely be in trouble. Google Webmaster now has a tool that helps you do this, but I've never tried it before.
Little SEO changes are not a big deal but you should reall pick URL structure and stick with it. Yes you can 301 redirect old pages to new pages but that's not guaranteed to work. Google does take your URL structure into account but not as much as you might think. Better to focus on what's on your page and not what your page is called.
I have changed folder names on top ten listed pages and google found and changed them within a couple of weeks. I would suggest using a redirect, but I didn't it a few cases a couple of years ago, that worked just fine.