How to Cite a Website in APA, MLA, and Chicago

Citing websites is one of the most common -- and most confusing -- tasks in academic writing. Unlike books or journal articles, websites often lack authors, dates, or page numbers. Here's how to handle it in the three major styles.

APA 7th Edition

APA website citations follow this general format:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. https://www.example.com/page

Standard Website with Author

Smith, J. (2025, March 15). The future of renewable energy. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy

No Author

When there's no identifiable author, move the title to the author position:

The future of renewable energy. (2025, March 15). National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy

No Date

Replace the date with "n.d." (no date):

Smith, J. (n.d.). The future of renewable energy. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy

For a deeper look at APA formatting, see our guide to APA citations.

MLA 9th Edition

MLA uses a container-based system. The basic format for a website:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page." Site Name, Day Month Year, URL.

Standard Website

Smith, John. "The Future of Renewable Energy." National Geographic, 15 Mar. 2025, www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

No Author

Start with the title in quotation marks:

"The Future of Renewable Energy." National Geographic, 15 Mar. 2025, www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

No Date

Omit the date element:

Smith, John. "The Future of Renewable Energy." National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

Note: MLA no longer requires "Accessed" dates for most websites, but your instructor may still ask for them.

Chicago 17th Edition (Notes-Bibliography)

Chicago offers two systems. Most humanities courses use notes-bibliography. The footnote format:

Author First Last, "Title of Page," Site Name, Month Day, Year, https://www.example.com/page.

Footnote Example

John Smith, "The Future of Renewable Energy," National Geographic, March 15, 2025, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

Bibliography Entry

Smith, John. "The Future of Renewable Energy." National Geographic. March 15, 2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

No Author

Use the title in place of the author in both the footnote and bibliography entry.

Quick Comparison

Here's the same website cited in all three styles:

APA:

Smith, J. (2025, March 15). The future of renewable energy. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy

MLA:

Smith, John. "The Future of Renewable Energy." National Geographic, 15 Mar. 2025, www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

Chicago:

Smith, John. "The Future of Renewable Energy." National Geographic. March 15, 2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/renewable-energy.

Common Mistakes

These issues come up frequently -- for a broader list across all source types, see our common citation mistakes guide.

1. Using the URL as the title -- always look for an actual page title
2. Citing the homepage instead of the specific page you referenced
3. Including "Retrieved from" in APA -- this isn't required in APA 7th edition
4. Forgetting to italicize the right elements (page title in APA, site name in MLA)
5. Breaking long URLs with hyphens -- keep URLs intact

Citing social media posts or profiles? Those follow different rules -- see our guide to citing social media. For AI-generated content from tools like ChatGPT, see how to cite AI tools.

Try It with CiteTools

Skip the manual formatting. Paste any website URL into CiteTools.io and get a perfectly formatted website citation in APA, MLA, Chicago, or any other style instantly. Works even when the page is missing an author or date.