How to cite a website in every style
Web pages are the most-cited source type after journal articles, and they're also where most students lose marks — citing the URL instead of the source, or confusing the page title with the site name. This guide walks through how to cite a website in APA, MLA, Chicago (NB and AD), and Harvard. Our free citation generator handles all of this from a single URL.
What information do you need?
Before you cite a webpage, gather six fields: the author (an individual or organization), the publication or update date, the page title, the site name, the URL, and — for some styles — an access date.
If the page has no author, use the publishing organization. If the organization is the site (e.g., a WHO page on the WHO site), most styles drop the duplicate site name.
How to cite a website in APA 7
APA places the author (or org), then the year and date in parentheses, then the page title in sentence case (italicized only when there is no separate site name), then the site name, then the URL.
Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL
Tufekci, Z. (2023, May 14). The case for slow journalism. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/
World Health Organization. (2023, October 4). Mental health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health
No author and no date
Common interview questions. (n.d.). Career Services Online. Retrieved April 25, 2026, from https://www.cso.example.org/interview
See our APA citation style guide for more APA web rules including the no-author title-promotion rule.
How to cite a website in MLA 9
MLA uses the core elements: Author. "Title of page." Site Name, publication date, URL. The publisher is sometimes included between the site name and date.
Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page." Site Name, Day Month Year, URL.
Tufekci, Zeynep. "The Case for Slow Journalism." The Atlantic, 14 May 2023, www.theatlantic.com/.
https:// from URLs in Works Cited entries — write www.theatlantic.com/, not https://www.theatlantic.com/.How to cite a website in Chicago
Chicago notes-bibliography (footnote)
1. Zeynep Tufekci, "The Case for Slow Journalism," The Atlantic, May 14, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/.
Tufekci, Zeynep. "The Case for Slow Journalism." The Atlantic, May 14, 2023. https://www.theatlantic.com/.
Chicago author-date
Tufekci, Zeynep. 2023. "The Case for Slow Journalism." The Atlantic, May 14, 2023. https://www.theatlantic.com/.
How to cite a website in Harvard
Harvard requires an "Available at:" URL and an access date. The access date catches writers familiar with APA, which made the access date optional in the 7th edition.
Tufekci, Z. (2023) 'The case for slow journalism', The Atlantic, 14 May. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/ (Accessed: 30 April 2026).
Edge cases
No author
If a webpage has no listed author, treat the publishing organization as the author. If there is no organization, move the page title into the author position. APA italicizes the title in this case (since stand-alone works are italicized when promoted to the author slot).
No date
Use (n.d.) in APA, n.d. in MLA. In Chicago and Harvard, the access date stands in for a missing publication date.
PDF on a website
A PDF hosted on a website is still cited as the underlying work it represents — usually a report, article, or chapter. See our how to cite a PDF guide.
Archived snapshots (Wayback Machine)
If you cite a page that has changed since you read it, link to an archived snapshot (web.archive.org) and include the snapshot date.
Common mistakes
Citing the URL instead of the source
A URL is a delivery address, not a citation. The reader needs the author, title, date, and site to evaluate the source — not just the link.
Listing the site name as the author
A page on The Atlantic by Zeynep Tufekci has Tufekci as the author and The Atlantic as the site. Listing The Atlantic as the author is wrong unless the article is genuinely unsigned.
Including "https://" in MLA URLs
MLA 9 specifies removing the https:// prefix in Works Cited URLs.
Quick reference
| Style | In-text format | Reference / Works Cited entry shape |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | (Tufekci, 2023) | Author. (Year, Month Day). Title. Site. URL |
| MLA 9 | (Tufekci) | Author. "Title." Site, date, URL. |
| Chicago NB | Footnote | Author, "Title," Site, date, URL. |
| Chicago AD | (Tufekci 2023) | Author. Year. "Title." Site, date. URL. |
| Harvard | (Tufekci, 2023) | Author (Year) 'Title', Site, date. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). |
Cite any webpage in seconds — paste a URL into our free citation generator and switch between APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard with one click.
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