Mountain Brook, AL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/27/2015 -- Flagstone Search Marketing founder Carlton R. Smith was recently featured in a Forbes.com article on Internet marketing, the company reports. The article, titled "Busting the Top 5 Online Marketing Myths," includes several quotes from Smith that focus on the problems that small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups often face as they seek out qualified marketing help. With a long, proven record of providing effective search engine optimization and other digital marketing services through Flagstone Search Marketing, Smith was sought out as an authority on the subject by author Steve Olenski.

"One of the most persistent myths about doing business online is that it is always fast, easy, and simple to get started," Smith confided, "In today's highly competitive environment, nothing could be further from the truth. There are many marketing agencies out there that promise results they are incapable of delivering, and too many businesses and entrepreneurs fall prey to them."

With over 12 billion web searches being conducted monthly in the United States alone, according to industry analyst Comscore, featuring prominently on the pages that are returned can be critical to a company's fortunes. Most businesses today therefore seek actively to improve their sites' placement in the results produced by Google and other search engines, whether by stocking up on interesting content or engaging the services of a company that specializes in search engine optimization.

Unfortunately, as Flagstone Search Marketing founder Smith points out in the new Forbes.com article, the latter route frequently leads to disappointment and even feelings of being duped. Although there are plenty of capable, experienced SEO specialists in the industry, there are also many more of a fly-by-night variety who get by on making promises instead of delivering anything of value.

With nearly 15 years of experience in digital media and a long record of SEO success, Carlton Smith, Flagstone Search Marketing owner, has seen too many who have been victimized in this way. In the new Forbes.com article, Smith advises those who are looking into SEO services to check on references and be wary of low-priced companies that are unable to thoroughly explain the techniques they use. This, he has found, is often a sign of a company that is merely looking to squeeze some fees out of short-term clients, without actually being capable of providing SEO results in return.

Flagstone Search Marketing, by contrast, designs and executes strategic, highly tailored SEO campaigns that align with the needs of each client. That can mean anything from launching focused, low-cost campaigns for local businesses to planning and following through on all-out SEO strategies that secure the most competitive keywords of all for Fortune 500 clients.

Flagstone Search Marketing's record of producing results speaks to the soundness and effectiveness of the approach Smith espouses. Since its founding, the company has helped a nutritional supplement startup quickly secure first page rankings for highly competitive keywords; contributed crucially to the electoral victory of an Alabama House Representative; and helped many clients save money and reap greater rewards by replacing expensive pay-per-click advertising with natural, organic SEO, for example.

The new Forbes.com article featuring Carton Smith is available online at http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2015/03/04/busting-the-top-5-online-marketing-myths/ and is valuable reading for anyone who stands to benefit from online marketing. Those who are interested in what Flagstone Search Marketing has to offer can read more at the company's website, where a convenient form can be used to schedule a free consultation.

About Flagstone Search Marketing, LLC
With a full range of proven, results-oriented online marketing services, Flagstone Search Marketing creates savvy, customized campaigns that help clients achieve their goals.