Local seo blog

My client has started a new business doing radon testing & mitigation in residential areas. The market in Amarillo for this niche is very scarce. There may be 2 or 3 businesses total in the area with an online presence and very short keywords with city i.e "radon mitigation Amarillo" & "radon testing Amarillo" do not even register data. I assume it would be very easy to rank locally. Nationally, although I would do more research, I'm not sure it is a widely known topic of interest either. With my lack of experience & being new to the world of online marketing, me seeing this as a great opportunity may be a stance of ignorance? What do you all think?

I have read that blogging for local businesses will not help rank. Though I have also read statistics, noted by a particular online presence, that show the majority of local SEOs really encourage blogging for local as it draws attention and traffic to the overall site.

A plan of action I am thinking about pursueing is creating an awareness blog on the importance of having radon testing done in your home. I want to rank these pages nationally which I hope would draw attention locally as well and again obtain site wide traffic. That is the selling factor & introducing people to the realities of why they need my clients service.

My questions are, do we encourage blogging on a local business site and why?
Also, with main keywords not showing data for local search, is having an online presence necessary? Should this lead me to creating the awareness blog & should I rank the blog pages nationally?

If I need to post in a particular area for specific topics, do redirect me.

Be nice. I'm new