How to Cite a Website in APA, MLA, and Harvard
A website citation has to answer four questions: who wrote it, what it is called, where it was published, and when it was published or viewed. The styles disagree about the order and the punctuation, but they agree on the elements. Once you have those four pieces, the rest is formatting.
The Citation & Bibliography Generator can assemble the entry once you have the details. This guide explains what to collect and how the three common styles arrange it.
Quick answer
Record the author or organisation, the page title, the site name, the publication or update date, and the URL. APA puts the date after the author and uses “Retrieved from” only when the page is likely to change. MLA puts the title before the site name and includes an access date when useful. Harvard varies by institution, so use the version your department provides.
What to collect from the page
Start with the author. A named person is preferable to an organisation, but an organisation can be the author when no person is credited. If there is no author, the title moves to the author position in APA and MLA. Do not use “Anonymous” unless the page explicitly does.
Next, the title of the page and the name of the website. These are not always the same. A page titled “How to Cite a Website” may sit on a site called “Writing Centre”. Record both. Then find the publication date or the last-updated date, usually near the top or bottom of the page. If there is no date, use “n.d.” in APA and a cautious date in MLA.
Finally, copy the URL from the address bar, not from a search result. Remove tracking parameters if they are long and irrelevant, but keep the path that identifies the page. A URL that only works after a login is not useful to a reader; cite the stable public page if one exists.
APA
APA generally uses author, date, title, site name, and URL. The in-text citation is author and year: (Cruz, 2024). For an organisation, use the organisation’s name in both places. For a page with no date, use (Cruz, n.d.).
APA distinguishes between a page that is likely to change and one that is stable. For a page that is designed to be updated, such as a wiki or a live report, an access date may be appropriate. For a fixed article, the publication date is enough. Check the current edition of the APA manual rather than relying on a summary, because the details have changed between editions.
MLA
MLA generally uses author, title of the page, site name, publisher, date, and URL. The in-text citation is usually the author’s surname and a page number if one exists: (Cruz). For a website without page numbers, the surname alone is enough.
MLA includes an access date when the source may change or when the publication date is missing. The date is optional for stable sources, but many instructors require it. Follow the assignment brief. The order of the elements matters more than the punctuation details, which vary slightly between editions.
Harvard
Harvard is a family of author-date styles rather than a single manual. Most versions use author, year, title, site name, and URL, with an access date for online sources. The punctuation and the use of “Available at” vary between institutions. Use the guide published by your school or department, not a random example from the web.
Whichever style you use, keep the reference list alphabetical and make sure every in-text citation has a matching entry. The Citation & Bibliography Generator can format the entry; you still have to check the details. For the choice between styles, read APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard: Choosing a Citation Style. For AI sources, see How to Cite AI Chatbots and Generated Images.
Common questions
What do I do if a website has no author?
Move the title to the author position and keep the rest of the elements in the style order. Do not invent an author or use "Anonymous" unless the page does. If an organisation is responsible for the page, the organisation can be the author.
What if the page has no publication date?
APA uses "n.d." in place of the year. MLA and Harvard vary: some guides allow an access date, and some ask for a cautious date such as the copyright year. Check your department guide and be consistent across the reference list.
Should I include the full URL or a shortened one?
Include the URL that takes the reader to the page, copied from the address bar. Remove tracking parameters that do not identify the content, but keep the path. A link that only works after a login is not useful; cite the public page if one exists.