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From my experience, doing a catchall 301 redirect to the homepage would be more devastating than leaving the 404 pages.  The best idea is just to start knocking them out as soon as possible. For the pages that don't exist and there isn't a related page, leave them on the 404.  Over time they will work themselves out of the SERPs. Definitely don't abuse the 301 redirect feature. It is for permanent changes not temporary changes.  You could really hurt future efforts on your site.

Do you still link to the homepage using anchor text containing the keywords you're talking about? Is the service page linked on every page (as I guess the homepage would be)? Have you analysed the backlink profile for both pages and broken it down by site and anchor text? The homepage is the most visited page on most of the sites I work on, so I wouldn't see this as a problem, only if you have a keyword cannibilisation issue.

Hi Vahe, I would be happy to lend a hand, but first could you possibly re-word you questions a bit? I want to make sure I have a firm understanding of what you are seeking so that I can be the most benefit to you. However I'll do my best to answer your questions as is. I generally tailor my SEO strategy based upon three different variables. Budget Location Industry So for example, you have a new client who is an up and coming law firm, but they are in, lets say South Dakota and they have a monthly budget of $1000 /month. Generally law is a very competitive industry, so I know I'll have to dedicate so much more time and resources to this particular client, driving up my required budget. However since they are located in a location that is not very web savy - very little online competition - I would be more liberal with my budget, and I could relax knowing that something like a guest blogging campaign would work to rank them well. I think what you are asking is "Once I have created a content strategy on the clients website, how do I get more traffic and backlinks to the work I have done on the site?". Again depending on the three variables I mentioned I would either try to guest blog in the similar genre of the content I was producing. Maybe get a little more creative, and have them offer a $2500 essay contest for future law majors, then post the essays on your site and contact colleges to talk about and link to the content rules, and winners on your clients site. I hope I answered your questions. If not please reword your questions and I'll see if I can help. Regards, @bnspak

I would focus on local citations as much as possible and until all relevant places have been covered. While you're at it you will score links as well so probably the best way to start as it's easy and ROI is fairly good. Next step is identifying best branding channels - a very broad and difficult question - I guess your client's budget will be the helping factor and you'll have to decide what to attack first in line with budget size. Prioritisation is not easy and you will no doubt hit the wall many times before you find the right solution.