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I`ve actually had a lot of experience in this arena, as a company that contracts my services sells a blog package which includes hosting, training, support, and a couple other tools. The package is aimed at small businesses and we`ve seen quite a turn out on the system. For many people who have purchased, it seems this is more of a way for them to have a quick and easy online presence and can help increase link building campaigns (namely when the blogs are picked up and reposted), but also has some additional SEO benefits if you take your keywords into account when writing the articles. It has done wonders for some small businesses I`ve worked with but I can`t say its helped all of them.
The fact is, if you don`t have something that is going to interest the masses to talk about, then is there really any purpose in having a blog? A gas station that has a blog talking about the constant flux in prices, ways to make your gas last longer, and other such topics, could be benefitial because these are things people are talking about already and it gives them "free advice" to help them save money. Though I think by having a blog like this, you`re really just look to project a more positive image and hoping that people will choose you because you go the extra distance. So I guess I`d say the larger corporation (like Circle K, 7-11, BP, etc...) could not only benefit as a large company, but could help their stations potentially gain more customers by doing this.
A local gas station may be able to use this method to help themselves, but the question then becomes, how do you effectively market the blog so that it makes a difference. It will probably be easy to get your current customers to check you out online, but how about people who generally don`t pay you attention. With the lack of searches for local gas station websites, your best is putting it on a sign that is seen by people driving by, or pay for some billboard, radio, and/or tv advertising.
To sum that bit of a lengthy response up, no I don`t think gas stations should have blogs, but I believe the larger comapny that provides their gasoline should, in order to benefit both parties.
The only thing I really would add to this debate is that if done correctly, a blog can increase your website`s seo ranking and Google page rank, especially if you use a system like Blogger.com (owned by Google). This is because systems like Blogger allow you to not only host the page on blogger, but you can choose to host the page on your site. I did this for a life coaching client and it made a significant difference. The results she saw in seo rankings was due to the fact that since Blogger is owned by Google, it gets indexed quite often, so everytime she made a post, those keywords went to help her sites rankings.
So if you are a small business, and you want to try blogging, just keep in mind that your content should adhere to the topic at hand and you should try to fit in your site`s keywords when you can (without overdoing it and making every 3rd word your keywords).
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Robert Carter
www.redknightmarketing.com
rcarter@redknightmarketing.com
