Press releases can indeed contribute to your SEO efforts, but their impact might not be as significant as some other strategies. Here’s how press releases can help with SEO:

Backlinks: When you distribute press releases through online distribution services, they can be picked up by various news outlets and websites. If these sources link back to your website, you can gain valuable backlinks. High-quality backlinks from authoritative sources can positively affect your website’s search engine rankings.

Brand Visibility: Press releases can help increase your brand’s visibility and awareness. When people search for your brand name or related keywords, the press release might appear in the search results, enhancing your online presence.

Keyword Optimization: Including relevant keywords in your press release can improve its chances of showing up in search engine results pages (SERPs) when users search for those keywords. This can lead to more exposure and traffic to your website.

Online Reputation: Positive press releases can contribute to building a positive online reputation. This can indirectly affect SEO by increasing user trust, engagement, and the likelihood of users clicking through to your website.

However, it’s important to consider a few points:

Quality and Relevance: The press release should be newsworthy and relevant to your industry. Low-quality, irrelevant press releases can be ignored by both news outlets and search engines.

Natural Link Building: Focus on creating press releases that offer genuine news value. Search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated in detecting unnatural or spammy link-building practices.

Anchor Text Diversity: If you’re using press releases for backlinks, ensure that the anchor text (the clickable text of the link) is diverse and not overly optimized. This helps in maintaining a natural link profile.

Balanced Strategy: While press releases can be a part of your SEO strategy, they should not be your sole focus. A well-rounded approach that includes other SEO techniques like high-quality content creation, on-page optimization, and ethical link building is essential.

NoFollow Links: Many news distribution sites use “nofollow” links in press releases, which means search engines may not pass on the same SEO value to your site as with regular “dofollow” links.

In summary, while press releases can contribute to your SEO efforts by providing backlinks, brand visibility, and keyword optimization, they should be used strategically as part of a broader SEO plan. Always prioritize creating high-quality, valuable content that attracts both search engines and your target audience.