Press releases are a great way to gain both offline exposure about your business, as well as a way to increase your online visibility.

Press releases can be used to announce a newsletter, some news about your company, a new site, product, or anything else that is deemed ‘newsworthy’. The hope is that a story will be written about what is covered in the release. People have told of how they were phoned by journalists for an interview after submitting a release online.

Whilst this may not happen every time, there are some other advantages to using press releases. It can provide good traffic to your site if it is optimized, and includes an active link back to your site. Not only that, but it will pass on some PR. To get an active link in a press release, you’ll have to pay a donation. At PRWeb, this is about $80. Due to the traffic you can get from piggy-backing on the ranking power of a strong site such as PRWeb, it is worth paying that money.

You can find online media outlets by performing a Google search. A few to try include: http://www.usprwire.com, http://www.1888pressrelease.com, and www.prweb.com. Some services will allow you to submit a press release for free and some will charge you a fee for submission. Before you pay a fee, make sure you know exactly what the fee is for. Don’t pay a fee unless you are getting something worthwhile for the money, such as guaranteed submission to reputable sites, or an active link.

If a service cannot provide you with anything more than what you are getting from a site that allows for free submission, you are better off saving your money and using a free submission service.

Most sites will require that you register as a member before you can submit a press release. This is free and only takes a few minutes. Once you have completed that step, you are ready to submit your press release!

Each site will have its own unique wording, but in general, there will be a link that says “submit your press release” or something to that effect. When you click on it, there will be a form that will allow you to attach or paste your press release. You will also want to include your name and contact information.

To get the best use out of your press release, submit it to several online services as well as to local media. The more exposure you can gain for your business, the more profits you will earn.

Overall, press releases are a good way to gain incoming links and traffic. And if you have something very newsworthy, you may even find yourself being interviewed!

For more ideas on getting traffic to your site, click here.

For more information on press releases, click here