Nothing says “amateur” like a poorly designed web site. If your web site looks like it was created by an eleven year old with Microsoft FrontPage, you are going to have an extremely hard time convincing people to hire you. Even though you may be an SEO and not a web designer, people still expect your web site to have a professional appearance. Showing your potential clients your unattractive web site is like showing up to a job interview in shorts and a t-shirt. If you don't have an eye for web design, do yourself a favor and hire a web designer to create a professional looking web site for your company.
2) Ranking poorly for your company's name
If you really want to ensure that no one hires you for your search engine optimization services, make sure that your company web site ranks poorly in Google for its own name. Better yet, make sure it doesn't even get indexed! If you cannot even get your company's web site to rank well for its own name, chances are search engine optimization is not the field for you. You don't have to rank on the first page of Google for search engine optimization or search engine marketing (although it is very useful if you do), but at least rank number one for your company's name.
3) Spamming
Unless you are David Naylor, spamming is not going to attract any potential clients. Whether you are trying to spam your company to the front page of Digg or just posting tons of useless threads on forums to build up your back links, spamming is frowned upon by most of the general population.
4) Bad spelling and grammar
This may seem like a minor detail, but bad spelling and grammar can have the same effect as a poorly designed web site. Whether its ten typos on your home page or poorly written forum posts, bad spelling and grammar makes you and your company look much less professional. This is something that can easily be avoided by proofreading what you type before you post or submit it. If you really have a hard time putting together coherent sentences, invest in a copy of The Elements of Style.
5) Taking on jobs that you can't handle
If you take on a client and promise them that their web site will rank on the first page of Google for Viagra, chances are that relationship is going to end badly. It is extremely important to not only be realistic with your clients about their expectations, but also not to ever take on a job that you know you won't be able to accomplish. Taking someone's money and not delivering results is a guaranteed way to drag your company's name and reputation through the mud!
