I cant tell you how many times I have worked with clients whose ecommerce platform is either totally incapable of being optimized for SEO or is severly limited.  Heck, in some cases, we can’t even get basic Google analytics tags installed!

I  hate to name names but one of the worst systems I have seen to date is Miva Merchant.  Several developers I have worked with absolutely hate the software, saying it is ‘a bunch of crap…’ and basically they are not even able to add a basic Google analytics sitewide tag, and asking them to add the commerce tracking tag or even the basic Google conversion tag (which is so so basic) was simply impossible to do!

How do these vendors expect their customers to run ecommerce business using a software platform that doesnt even allow for web analytics and tracking?  I have basically had to tell several clients that I couldnt help them, as much as I wanted the business, I cant really conduct online marketing programs if I cant even have analytics in place.

Other clients have come to me with inhouse/homebuilt commerce systems, again with some real fundamental problems like not being able to have customized page titles or meta information for each page!  Or using session ID’s in the URLs….

I guess I am just upset that these customers basically are SOL and will likely have to migrate to a new platform..

Google recently expanded their beta program for their Google Gadget ads to a limited number of their adwords advertisers.  Unfortunately, none of my clients have been invited to join yet.  These gadget ads are rich media ads that can contain a large number of interactive, interesting features such as data feeds, flash and other multimedia tools.  The ads run on Google’s content network and can be cpc or cpm based.

Some examples of these rich media ads can be found at: Gadget ad examples .

I am so excited about all the opportunities becoming available for online advertising.  These gadget ads are just another example of how Google continues to innovate and push the marketplace further along.

There are millions of lists out there for building links but I actually wanted to capture some recent articles and postings about web directories and their usefulness for search engine optimization and link building.

• Hey, this article is almost three years old but many of the directory ideas are still good - some are free and some you have to pay a yearly fee. In all cases you have to watch out for the quality of the directory: “56 directories to submit to“
• Another dated but I found still useful article on “how to find directories to link to“
• Great article by Rand Fishkin on “What Makes a Good Web Directory“
• Rand again has some great ideas on what makes a good directory in his article “The Wisdom and Folly of Directory Link Building“
• 131 link building strategies (another way old article but still relevant)
• Andy Hagan & Aaron Wall’s article on “101 Link Building Tips to Market Your Website“