Press releases will indeed, be effective in driving traffic to your site. But they should be "optimized" press releases, written with well-researched keywords. This is a unique SEO tool we have been using for clients of our public relations company (see Public Relations Firm and Copywriting Services - Houston Texas - TX | Bayou City PR for more info on "optimized" or "online" press releases). for more than three years. A strategically designed plan for issuing press releases (optimized for a company's keywords) is an instant pickup on Google News and many are indexed by organic Google.

However, even if your press release is optimized, if it is not well-written with compelling content, no one will read it anyway. I do not recommend free press release services nor do I believe it is necessary or even wise to post releases on expensive services like Businesswire or PR Newswire. PR Web is good, but still costs more than you have to spend to get first page placement.. Far and away, the foremost expert on optimized press releases is Ron Scott. He is also an outstanding teacher. (Affordable Public Relations | Top Ten Search Engine Placement | PRGuruGuy).