Link Submissions
We welcome your suggestions for sites to be added to our Links Page. There are, however, a few guidelines, which we encourage you to read carefully and completely to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, because in the event of rejection we cannot engage in lengthy email exchanges explaining why a particular link is unsuitable - or why it will cost you money. Please read about us before soliciting us.

Nor do we publish advertorials, "sponsored articles" or contextual links of any kind. All advertising and promotions on this independently-published site are clearly indicated as such, appearing in specific areas of the pages or on dedicated commercial pages containing no editorial content. Links are included based on the specific policies set forth on this page. We're happy to link to your site if possible. Otherwise, if your site is not suitable for inclusion based on these editorial criteria, consider an illustrated sponsored link (un servizio descritto anche in italiano) for €40, or less, per month.

A typical sponsored link is visible in the navigation bar at left. Please note that the dimensions and format are consistent with the design of this website. This link on several pages of Best of Sicily generates more than 100 visits each day for the website of a travel-based business. But if they did not advertise with us, we would not promote their website because:

We cannot promote commercial sites free of charge.
Non possiamo promuovere gratis i siti commerciali.

And we do not participate in low-paying affiliate or sales programmes. If a link to your commercial website is not appropriate based on our editorial criteria, consider an illustrated sponsored link! Our links page gets over four hundred (400) readers each day, and we cannot promote one commercial interest over another. (Please read the following sections.)

We generally do not publicize particular upcoming events free of charge, though our events page lists annual ones. Our staff does not have time to follow the schedules of various events in Sicily. If you want to publicize a particular event, consider a sponsored link ad.

A COMMERCIAL NOTE: We regret that, in order to avoid possible conflicts of interest, the editors must reserve the right to decline linking to certain commercial sites whose products or services may compete with those of our advertisers (the firms that pay to have link ads on this site). The information on Best of Sicily is obviously free to readers, but this site receives no public funding of any kind and must rely on commercial support (advertising) to cover maintenance costs. Companies desiring a presence on this site should consider paid advertising. The publishers cannot provide free advertising to commercial (profit) interests.

BANNER COURTESY POLICY: We do not charge for links to appropriate websites sites indicated on the general links page. However, clients who purchase advertising normally will have their sites linked from the links page for the duration of the advertising, though this depends to some extent on the nature of their products or services. People who propose linking to certain sites (usually their own) sometimes complain that we link to a similar site but refuse to link to theirs; this is usually the reason. We give preference to our advertisers by promoting their products or services rather than those of their competitors. That's just basic business ethics. Our response to people who solicit us for free promotions of their services or products is that you can have a presence on Best of Sicily if you pay for a sponsored link. (It's that simple.) Though we consider the appropriateness of advertising before accepting it (i.e. excluding pornographic websites), it is probable that yours would be suitable. In accepting advertising, we do not discriminate based on geographical or ethnic factors. Furthermore, as a matter of professional courtesy, if we receive an email request for a certain product or service mentioned someplace on Best of Sicily, we will recommend the advertiser or refer the inquiring party to a page on this site where an advertiser is mentioned. Firms such as Sicily Concierge, whose ad is shown at left, are present on Best of Sicily because they pay us to be featured here. By purchasing advertising space, you can be on this site, too.

Best of Sicily has over 150,000 readers in a busy month (over two million each year). Not every visitor is interested in every topic presented here, but the sites linked to free-of-charge should relate to a topic of general interest to readers who are planning a trip to Sicily or are genuinely interested in Sicilian history, people, culture and geography. (This excludes most self-centered family history and genealogy pages, though a brief introduction to genealogy is presented on our genealogical research page and we do link to a few informational genealogy sites.)

The site you suggest must have a clear, correct, standard English text. (Per forza!) It need not have an Italian text but a good English text is essential. (Unfortunately, many bilingual sites developed in Italy fall short in the area of English translations.)

In general, the site should not be exclusively commercial in nature. This policy categorically excludes individual hotel and travel agency sites, as well as most other business sites. A non-commercial site on Sicilian wines, for example, could be included (as long as it doesn't mention brands that compete directly with those of our advertisers), while the site of a particular Sicilian winery normally would not be considered. Certain restaurant sites are welcome if they present the topic of Sicilian cuisine in an interesting or appealing way. Sites dealing with certain Sicilian products of an artistic nature, such as ceramic art, silverware or furniture, may also be considered. In any event, placement of a link on the Links Page is made at the sole discretion of our editors, and does not constitute an endorsement or testimonial of any kind.

While encouraging diversity of opinion, we must require that the content of the site be accurate (no revisionist history about Garibaldi "liberating" Sicily and no tales of the Mafia being founded as a medieval independence movement).

Permanent sites administered with their own domain names (www.yoursicilysite.com) are generally preferred to personal home pages and sites hosted on university servers, but this is a flexible policy. The site's text should be original, even if the site's editors have permission to re-publish certain material. This is especially true of material which has appeared in a magazine having wide distribution. We sometimes prefer not to link to a site if more than three or four of its pages include non-original articles of this kind.

We do not link to sites whose copy appears to have been provided by a content farm, or whose subject matter is redundant (or in any event non-complementary) relative to Best of Sicily's main pages and articles.

While we sometimes publish articles dealing with important social issues, the linked site's primary purpose should not be political in the sense of representing a particular political party, movement, large organisation, arcane philosophy, view point, lobby or special-interest group - or a particular group of politicians, artists or businessmen. In fact, we normally do not list sites which in any way express the views of politicians, bureaucrats, or individuals employed by, or connected with, the Italian government (including local, regional and national travel bureaus). The web sites of organisations that represent important aspects of Sicilian culture or history are welcome (theatres, opera houses, art galleries), but certain otherwise well-designed sites cannot be considered because of the political, partisan or "personality-oriented" views expressed in their pages. The personalities that interest our visitors are those of native Sicilian actors, actresses, artists, musicians, composers, authors, fashion designers and authors, not journalists, politicians, web site designers (!), event organisers, et al. Like most of our foreign visitors, Best of Sicily has no interest in Sicilian partisan politics, and we don't like to see political opinions disguised as journalism. A site dealing with religion in Sicily (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam, etc.) may be considered.

In most cases, the linked site should deal specifically with Sicily (instead of Italy generally) or Sicilians (rather than their descendants outside Sicily). This website is edited in Sicily by Sicilians. We're published in English, but Best of Sicily is Sicilian, not "Sicilian-American" or related to Sicilian descendants (or emigrants) living in various countries outside Italy. Generally, we do not publish information relating to Sicilians (or Sicilian culture) beyond Italian borders. This policy also applies to links. Best of Sicily is not ethnocentric. Therefore, we sometimes publish information relating to non-Italians who live and work in Sicily. The key focus is Sicily as a location.

We often reject sites which are poorly designed; the sites developed by certain Sicilian firms and government agencies are infamous in this regard. We don't link to sites which present a large quantity of intentionally misleading information as though it were fact. We usually reject sites which try to insert cookies onto your computer's hard drive - unless there seems to be a valid reason for the use of such "biscotti."

We reserve the right to charge for some types of commercial text links on certain link-oriented pages (such as the tours page), though not on the main links page. In the interest of editorial honesty, such links will be identified as "sponsored" links.

We understand that these guidelines are rather difficult to meet, but they are necessary if Best of Sicily's editorial integrity is to be preserved. Best of Sicily is different, and we'd like to stay that way. We won't send readers to sites which we wouldn't want to spend our time visiting. If you know of a site that you feel should be listed on our links page, let us know. You'll find more information at About Us and Site Faqs. Grazie.