Web Site Policy on External Links

At BuyFromTheFarm.ca we believe that the World Wide Web is just that, a Web. The original web sites would include pages of links to other sites which might be of interest to their readers, and internet users would follow this web of links in a journey of discovery. The advent of Search Engines changed the way we use the web, but these page indexing services rely on this network of links both to find and to rank additional pages and sites. The links page should be a part of every web site.

Our external links are distributed throughout the site. For instance, every farm listed on BuyFromTheFarm.ca, if they indicate that they have a web site, will be linked from their own listing page. When we post comments to an article written and posted on another site, we include a link to that site and the article so our users can read the original. In this way we hope to keep the links relevant to the content in which the link appears.

We strongly disagree with the use of the rel="nofollow" attribute used by Google. We have no 'Paid Links' on the site. Yes we provide links to our supporters, but they are not helping us because we are giving them a link, but rather because they believe in what we are doing. Linking to our supporters is a mark of appreciation. We also show our appreciation to anyone else who sees fit to link to us, or to mention us on their sites. However, we will not link to sites which are not relevant to our subject matter, even if they have provided a link to us. Link 'farms' have nothing to do with Canadian Agriculture, and we will have nothing to do with them. Link networks, like social networks, should be allowed to develop and grow naturally.

If you wish to exchange links with us, we will exchange text links only. If you are Canadian, and your business would be relevant within the content area of the site, we ask that you list with BuyFromTheFarm.ca. We will not link from our links page to any Canadian Business which is otherwise able to have a full listing on our site. To be listed on our links page, your site content must be potentially interesting to our users, and pertinent to our own subject matter. If your site compliments ours, we will be happy to link to you.
Link Policies

• All links on BuyFromTheFarm.ca will be open. We do not user the rel="nofollow" attribute.
• All external links will open in a new window so the user does not lose their place in our site.
• We will maintain a links page for reciprocal linking, with these rules:
  1. Linked sites must be relevant to Canadian Agriculture, and of potential interest to our users. Many Food or Farm sites in other countries would qualify. Offshore machinery dealerships would not.
  2. Canadian firms otherwise qualified to have a listing on our site will not be accepted on the Links page. They will be required to set up a proper listing, and we encourage them to link to us from their own site. This will improve the visibility of both sites.
  3. Links will be sorted alphabetically.
  4. Links which return errors will be removed.
• Acceptance of links, and the continued maintenance of links, shall be at the sole discretion of BuyFromTheFarm.ca.