One of the best features of the Miva Merchant shopping cart is the ability to add external modules to extend the functionality and give you more useable and customizable features. Adding modules to your Miva installation is an easy and inexpensive way to add more functionality targeted specifically to your needs. Most modules cost between $30 and $100. They are easy to install, and work exactly as described. Even though out of the box Miva Merchant has a lot of built in functionality, there is usually a need to add more depending on your needs. Just because Miva Merchant is free (with hosting) does not mean that it does not cost money. Every Miva store owner should expect to spend $300 to $500 on additional modules to customize it the way you want. Here is a list of 10 must have Miva modules for any Miva store owner.

Note: All module suggestions are for Miva Merchant 5.0

1. Category Template Manager - By Sebenza
Price: $79.95
The Category Template Manager is an essential module for any store owner. It is packed with features such as product sorting, breadcrumb display, category top sellers, and category paging. The best part about this module is that it allows you to create unlimited number of category templates, which you simply assign to your different categories. It also gives you full control of the category page layout. Learn More Here

2. Product Template Manager – By Sebenza
Price: $79.95
The Product Template Manager allows you create multiple product display templates that can then be assigned to different products. This allows you to create different page layouts specific to certain products. With this module you can also get full control over the attribute template, allowing you to control the look and feel of your product attributes. Learn More Here

3. META Master v5 by Advance Development Solutions
Price: $79.95
Meta Tags are a very important aspect of search engine optimization. Your site’s products and categories need targeted Meta tags to help rank better in the search engines. This module is easy to install and gives you full control of your Meta tags at the global level, page level, category level, and product level. A must have for any serious Miva owner. Learn More Here

4. Ultimate SEO Links™ for Miva Merchant
Price: $69.95
Hands down the best search friendly links module for Miva Merchant. If you are interested in SEO at all, this module is a must. It changes the links from this:
http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=abc

to this:
http://www.domain.com/widget-p-widgetcategory.html

This gives Google and the other search engines the impression that you have static.html pages which it likes much better than the standard Miva urls with all the parameters.
One caution though: This module requires you to edit your sites .htacess file. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to hire a professional to install this module for you.
Also keep in mind that if you already have urls indexed in Google, you need to do a 301 redirect on all the old urls to all the new urls. If you don’t, Google will penalize your site for duplicate content. Learn More Here

5. Ultimate Coupons™ by Sebenza
Price: $99.95
Using Coupons on a regular basis as a sales tool is essential for any Miva store owner. Coupons give the customer a reason to come back to your store and purchase again, or to purchase more than they originally intended. Coupons are also a great was to get people to sign up for your mailing list. This module is packed full of features and also gives you full reporting of your customers coupon usage. Learn More Here