Posted in Online Publishing Strategy	August 18, 2008

Launching an Internet hub that’s loaded with content means that sometimes you’re so busy giving stuff away, you forget that your topics should still be selling something.

In order for an Internet hub to convert visitors into buyers, you need to align the topics you write about with the products you sell. If you are writing about a topic that a reader can't upgrade from, then you should either create a product, or start writing about something you do have product inventory for.

Topics that sell must have something to sell! A good example of this best practice in visitor conversion is Johns Hopkins Health Alerts. They have 22 topics on their Internet hub from Arthritis to Women's Health.

If you're visiting JohnsHopkinsHealthAlerts.com for information on Arthritis, you'll not only find articles on the subject, you'll find an array of products and services related Arthritis.

What Johns Hopkins offers on the topic of Arthritis:

• Dozens of Arthritis articles - Arthritis Alerts
• 12 free Arthritis freemiums - Arthritis Special Reports
• 1 free Arthritis email newsletter - Johns Hopkins Arthritis Health Alerts
• 1 Arthritis white paper (both print and digital) - 2008 Johns Hopkins White Paper: Arthritis
• 1 paid quarterly Arthritis bulletin (both print and digital) - The Johns Hopkins Arthritis Bulletin
• 1 Arthritis cookbook - Recipes for Arthritis Health
• 1 Arthritis service - The Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center

Do you see the alignment? Can you imagine that visitor conversion on the topic of Arthritis is fairly high? In order to write topics that sell, your product line must match your topic line.

In a best-case scenario, this is the visitor conversion relationship that would build between the reader and Johns Hopkins over time:

1. She reads a few articles on Arthritis.
2. She likes the articles and decides to sign up for the email newsletter, where she receives a complimentary special report on Arthritis.
3. She likes the email newsletter so much that she decides to order a copy of the 2008 white paper on Arthritis.
4. She enjoys the white paper so much that she wants to start receiving the most updated Arthritis information regularly, by subscribing to the Arthritis quarterly bulletin.
5. In the bulletin she sees an ad for the Arthritis cookbook and decides that the information she's already getting from Johns Hopkins would be great in recipe form.
6. She's decided to get professional help for her Arthritis, and since she's already so cozy with Johns Hopkins, she decides to go to the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center.

Is your Internet hub lacking a few topics that sell? Do the topics that have information products related to the subject have a better conversion rate? Increase your visitor conversion rate by adding a few freemiums and information products and watch your conversions rise.