How to Cite a Website: APA, MLA, and Chicago Formats

Citing websites is one of the most common citation tasks — and one of the most inconsistent, because websites often have missing authors, unclear dates, and unstable URLs. Here’s how to handle them in each major style.

What information to gather first

Before formatting the citation, collect:

1. Author — person or organization who wrote the page (not the site)
2. Title — the specific page title (from the browser tab or <h1>)
3. Website name — the name of the site (often in the header/logo)
4. Published or updated date — look at the page footer, byline, or metadata
5. URL — the full URL of the specific page
6. Access date — required by some styles for web sources

APA 7th edition format

Template:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Website Name. URL

Example — with author and date:

Roberts, J. (2025, November 12). How neural networks learn. Towards Data Science. https://towardsdatascience.com/how-neural-networks-learn

Example — organization as author:

World Health Organization. (2026, January 5). Mental health fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health

No author — start with the title:

Global chip shortage explained. (2026, March 3). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56252495

No date — use (n.d.):

Smith, B. (n.d.). Introduction to SQL indexing. Database Weekly. https://dbweekly.com/sql-indexing

In-text citation (APA):

(Roberts, 2025)
(World Health Organization, 2026)
("Global chip shortage," 2026)  ← no author: use shortened title in quotes
(Smith, n.d.)

MLA 9th edition format

Template:

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

Example:

Roberts, James. "How Neural Networks Learn." Towards Data Science, 12 Nov. 2025, towardsdatascience.com/how-neural-networks-learn.

Note on URLs in MLA: Omit https:// — start from the domain.

No author:

"Global Chip Shortage Explained." BBC News, 3 Mar. 2026, bbc.com/news/technology-56252495.

No date — include your access date:

Smith, Brian. "Introduction to SQL Indexing." Database Weekly, Accessed 25 Apr. 2026, dbweekly.com/sql-indexing.

In-text citation (MLA):

MLA uses author-page format. For websites (no page numbers):

(Roberts)
("Global Chip Shortage")  ← no author: shortened title in quotes

Chicago style

Chicago has two systems: Notes-Bibliography (humanities) and Author-Date (sciences). Most Chicago citations for websites use Notes-Bibliography.

Notes-Bibliography — footnote:

1. James Roberts, "How Neural Networks Learn," Towards Data Science, November 12, 2025, https://towardsdatascience.com/how-neural-networks-learn.

Notes-Bibliography — bibliography entry:

Roberts, James. "How Neural Networks Learn." Towards Data Science. November 12, 2025. https://towardsdatascience.com/how-neural-networks-learn.

Author-Date (in-text):

(Roberts 2025)

Author-Date reference list:

Roberts, James. 2025. "How Neural Networks Learn." Towards Data Science. November 12, 2025. https://towardsdatascience.com/how-neural-networks-learn.

Handling unstable URLs

URLs change. If the source has a DOI, use that instead. For general web pages, consider linking to an archived version:

• Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) — paste the URL to archive it

In APA, you may note the archive URL:

Roberts, J. (2025, November 12). How neural networks learn. Towards Data Science. https://web.archive.org/web/20251112/https://towardsdatascience.com/how-neural-networks-learn

Quick reference table

Missing element	APA	MLA	Chicago
No author	Start with title	Start with title	Start with title
No date	(n.d.)	Include access date	Include access date
No page title	Use [Description of page]	Use a description	Use a description
Organization as author	Use org name	Use org name	Use org name

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