Helping E-tailers With Their Miva Merchant Needs...

Miva Merchant
Search Engine Optimization

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Out-of-the-box Miva Merchant allows a surprising amount of customization. However, for proper search engine optimization one requires the ability to customize such things as the Title tags, Alt tags, Meta tags, etc. Stock Miva Merchant doesn't allow that without getting under the hood and modifying the MMUI file's Miva code. Especially from v4.14 and later, all code is compiled requiring a separate Compiler purchase to edit the Miva Merchant User Interface (MMUI) file. Fortunately there's an easier way.

The OPENUI:

The one must-have piece of software required for good SEO is the OpenUI. The OpenUI fully replaces the stock MMUI, allowing for the ability of 3rd-party developers to add modules effecting a store's user interface. This means that a store's Miva generated screens can be modified in any way, allowing dynamic search engine optimization per screen. But there's more. The OpenUI's advanced features allow for the customization of a screen's Title Tags, Meta Tags and many other fields, then generate them dynamically with the use of tokens. Tokens are placeholders representing a particular string that is inserted when a screen is called upon. For example, adding a token such as %prodname% into the title field, will add the product name to the Title tag when called upon.

Miva Merchant and Short Static Links:

One of the greatest concerns of store owners doing SEO, is the long dynamic links used in Miva Merchant. There was a time when the major search engines ignored links using dynamic variables such as, ?,=,and &. This no longer holds true, but lesser search engines still often can't index dynamically linked pages. Another issue is that search engines may not favor dynamically linked pages in the results, and also limit the number of dynamic pages indexed.

Getting around this problem requires a 2-pronged approach, by using mod_rewite and a Miva Merchant module. mod_rewite is a server-side script that rewrites the static URL requested, and translates it to a dynamic form that Miva Merchant will understand. This is a legitimate use of a server function that is completely transparent to the search engine as well as the user. Mod_rewrite requires the use of Apache v1.2 or later be installed on the server. Apache is favored and common on most Unix/Linux based servers but may also be available on a Windows server. To be sure, contact your host to see if mod_rewrite is available to you.

In order to properly use these translated links, a store will require a module to modify the internal linking structure of a Miva Merchant store. A module such as SEO Links was designed for overcoming just such an issue. SEO Links will change the linking throughout the store to a short and static link. For example, a typical Miva Merchant dynamic link such as:
http://www.yourdomainname.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PX&Category_Code=AP

Will be changed to a simple:
http://www.yourdomain.com/c-categorycode.html

By using this method, everything looks and works just as if a static page was involved. Not only is it understood as a static link, but it also has a short URL. This allows the search engine to see it at the top of the server's web hierarchy, adding extra weight to the page in it's rankings.

Tweak Tweak:

This article would not be complete without mentioning modules that will allow a higher degree of search engine optimization for the Miva Merchant product and category screens. Since Miva Merchant creates dynamically generated pages, there is still a need to tweak the portions of a page that neither stock Miva Merchant nor the OpenUI have the ability to do.

One option is the Category Page Templates and Product Page Templates modules. Both modules are required to customize both screen types. These modules allow you to take total control of the product and category screens, but a knowledge of tokens is essential for proper configuration. The advantage of these modules is their flexibility and the use of template-based content.

The other option is the Search Engine Tweak Pro (SETPro) Module. SETPro allows you to manipulate numerous areas of both the category and product screens that are directly relevant to search engine rankings. The advantage of this module is it's simplicity and lower price.

Miva Merchant SEO Articles:

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