Like most websites for large conglomerates with extensive product lines in many markets covering the B2B and B2C spectrum, Shell.com is forced to address everything on one page. Additionally, given the brand’s business interests, there isn’t a whole lot of sexy expected; it’s not that kind of oil. Visitors are expected to manage their expectations. And all things considered, Shell.com does a swell job.

While the four main buckets are far from exciting, they do address the areas that might interest a hypothetical Shell.com visitor. In a rare display of candidness, Shell.com’s search cloud tells a visitor all he or she needs to know about what the most important website sections are. Also, it tells us how good a job the homepage does in addressing them. Are the biggest cloud terms addressed on the homepage? Yes, so it’s a good homepage. Case closed.

Multiplatform business interests aside, it is at Shell-branded filling stations—of which it controls over 40,000 globally, 25,000 of which are in the US alone—that Shell is looking to set its brand of commodity apart from its competitors'. In the Midwest state in which this author lives, a gallon of gasoline is now almost exactly the same price as a pack of cigarettes. But unlike cigarettes, gasoline does not come in menthol nor does it come with differing leaf qualities, flavors, cuts or aspirational qualities: Gasoline is a commodity with little difference between brands… right? So Shell’s challenge is that many consumers see gasoline as all the same. Plus, Shell cannot use price sensitivity in any way to “brand” its product because of gasoline being considered a commodity, which, in turn, reinforces the idea that there is no difference in brands of gasoline.

But the “Shell for Motorists” sub-site is too difficult to find. It does not show up on a Google search for “shell gas.” A small consolation is that the US site, the first result for a “shell gasoline” search, does have a detectable link to “Shell for Motorists” in its left navigation bar.

When it comes to getting the word out about Shell’s brand of gasoline, conventional routes such as television, print and point-of-sale messaging are clearly the most effective for establishing brand identity. Shell’s web presence and online efforts will primarily reach only those consumers who make an effort to seek out particular information about the brand and its products. But if Shell is serious about its brand identity, then there is no excuse for not updating $2-a-gallon gasoline on Localshell.com.