I suppose that links and backlinks, directory submission sites will be very helpful to generate traffic to your web site.
Page rank usually depend upon number of back links and domain age. Try to increase back link of your site. Usually Google update page rank after three months. So keep on working on it, hopefully page rank will be increased soon.
Like everyone says its all about the backlinks. Just be patient and it will update. I found that PR doesn't mean that you can rank high in SERPS though.