Oh, absolutely. Press releases can draw MASSIVE traffic to your
site, however, as with EVERYTHING, it all depends on your target
audience and what it is exactly that you are offering.
I use local press releases for my local based web design firm and
every time an offline press release is issued, I draw in thousands
of visitors and they usually convert rather well at roughly a 55%
to 75% conversion, depending on the time of year it is and what
exactly is happening "around town" of course.
Remember, though, those conversions are high because those who
visit my site are people who are genuinely interested since they've
taken the time to put their newspaper down and type in my URL.
Even when I have released online press releases, those usually
convert rather well as well, depending on the time of year, what
I am offering and how well I put the PR together.
The key to even getting your PR published is that you must be
announcing something of value to the PR readers, otherwise, the
PR firm has no need or desire to post your PR. So, it's important
to come up with some sort of gimmick (and I mean that in no ill
manner at all, just using the word) to make the PR firm WANT to
accept your release and compelling enough to make the readers
of the PRs to click on your link (or type in your web address) and
visit your site.
What exactly are you thinking of promoting with a PR, if you don't
mind me asking?