This question came to me yesterday, so I thought it would be good to address it here.

“A client wants to put all releases on press release websites for the sole purpose of improving their SEO. How does that work?”

In a word, no.  The content & links contained within a press release are not going to affect your site’s organic ranking.  But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them.

Press releases can generate additional content on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and another opportunity for your content sites to dominate the available real estate.  Press releases can also help journalists, news papers and digital content sites to find out more about you and put that content on their site.  These third party links do help SEO, but it is a very roundabout approach.

In conclusion, do press releases, but don’t expect them to give a major boost to your ranking.