APA citations for websites follow a straightforward pattern: author, date, title, and URL

An APA citation for an internet source tells readers exactly where you found information so they can check it themselves. The basic format is: Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of page. Retrieved from URL. If there is no author, start with the title instead. If there is no date, write (n.d.) for "no date."

The order matters because each piece serves a purpose. The author shows who wrote it. The year shows when. The title shows what it is. The URL shows where to find it. A reader following your citation should land on the exact page you used, not a homepage or a search result.

APA format has changed over time. The most recent version (APA 7th edition) dropped the "Retrieved from" phrase for most websites and now asks for just the URL. Older papers may have used "Retrieved from" — check what your teacher or publication asks for before you submit.

Key Takeaways

  • The basic APA format for a website is: Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of page. URL
  • If no author is listed, begin with the page title and alphabetize by the first word of the title (skip "A," "An," or "The").
  • Use the access date only if the page content changes frequently, like a Wikipedia article or a news feed.
  • The URL should be the direct link to the page you cited, not the homepage of the website.
  • If your citation is longer than one line, indent the second line and all following lines by half an inch (called a hanging indent).

How to find the author and date on a webpage

The author's name usually appears at the top or bottom of the article. Look for a byline that says "By [Name]" or "Author: [Name]." If the page is from an organization like the CDC or the American Red Cross, use the organization name as the author. If no individual author is listed and no organization claims the page, omit the author and start with the title.

The publication date is often near the author's name or at the end of the article. Look for phrases like "Published," "Posted," or "Updated." If you see only a month and year with no day, write it as (Year, Month). If you see only a year, write (Year). If the page has no date anywhere, write (n.d.) — this is common for reference pages, FAQs, and archived material.

Some websites hide the author and date in the page source code. Right-click on the page, select "View Page Source" or "Inspect," and search for "author" or "date" in the code. If you still cannot find either one after checking the visible page and the source code, it is acceptable to omit it and begin your citation with the title.

Building a complete citation step by step

Start with the author's last name, then a comma, then the first initial with a period. If there are multiple authors, list them in order: Smith, J., Johnson, M., & Lee, R. (2023). The ampersand (&) goes before the last author's name.

Next, add the year in parentheses: (2023). Follow with a period, then the title of the page in sentence case — meaning only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. Do not use quotation marks or italics for webpage titles. End the title with a period inside the parentheses if the title is a complete sentence, otherwise place the period after the closing parenthesis.

Finally, add the URL. In APA 7th edition, write it as: https://www.example.com/page-name. Do not add "Retrieved from" before the URL unless your teacher or publication specifically asks for it. Do not add an access date unless the content changes frequently (like Wikipedia or a news feed).

A complete example: Smith, J. (2022). How solar panels work. https://www.energyexample.com/solar-panels

Citing pages with no individual author

Many websites are published by organizations rather than a named person. Use the organization's name as the author. If the organization name is long, you can shorten it in your in-text citation after the first mention. For example, the first citation might be (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2023), and later citations can use just (NIH, 2023).

Format it the same way: Organization Name. (Year). Title of page. URL. Alphabetize by the organization's name in your reference list, ignoring words like "The" at the beginning.

Example: American Heart Association. (2023). Warning signs of a heart attack. https://www.heart.org/warning-signs

Handling special cases: PDFs, blog posts, and news articles

A PDF from a website is cited the same way as a webpage. You do not need to add [PDF] or note the file type. Use the URL where you found it, not a file path on your computer.

Blog posts follow the same format as regular webpages. Include the author's name (if listed), the date the post was published, the title of the post, and the URL. If the blog has no author listed, use the blog name as the author.

News articles on a website are cited like any other webpage. Use the reporter's name as the author, the publication date, the headline as the title, and the URL to the article itself. If the article is behind a paywall or requires a subscription, you can still cite it — the URL shows where it appears, even if readers cannot access it without paying.

Example of a news article: Johnson, M. (2024, January 15). New study shows benefits of remote work. https://www.newsexample.com/remote-work-study

Formatting your reference list correctly

All your citations go at the end of your paper on a page titled "References." Arrange them in alphabetical order by the author's last name (or by the title if there is no author). Use a hanging indent: the first line of each citation lines up with the left margin, and every line after that is indented half an inch. Most word processors can do this automatically — in Microsoft Word, select all your citations, go to Format > Paragraph, and set the "Special" option to "Hanging."

Double-space the entire reference list, just like the rest of your paper. Do not add extra space between citations. Use a standard font like Times New Roman, 12-point, in black text.

If you are citing multiple works by the same author from the same year, add a lowercase letter after the year: (2023a), (2023b), and so on. This helps readers tell them apart in your in-text citations.

In-text citations: how to credit a source within your paper

Every time you use information from a source, you need a brief citation in parentheses right after the information. This is called an in-text citation. The simplest format is (Author Year) — for example, (Smith 2023). If you mention the author's name in your sentence, you only need the year in parentheses: "According to Smith (2023), solar panels work by..."

If you quote directly from a source, add the page number: (Smith 2023, p. 45). If there is no page number (common for webpages), you can use a paragraph number or section heading instead: (Smith 2023, para. 3) or (Smith 2023, "How They Work").

For a source with no author, use the title (shortened if it is long): ("Solar Panel Guide" 2023). For an organization, use the organization name: (American Heart Association 2023).

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not include "www" or "https://" in alphabetical order — alphabetize by the author or title, not the URL. Do not capitalize every word in the page title; use sentence case instead. Do not add quotation marks around the page title. Do not include the access date unless the page content changes frequently.

Do not assume a website's homepage date is the date of the page you cited — find the date on the actual page you used. Do not cite the same source twice with different formats. Do not forget the hanging indent on your reference list; it makes citations easier to scan.

Do not use a shortened URL or a link shortener (like bit.ly) in your citation. Use the full, direct URL to the page. If the URL is extremely long, it is acceptable to shorten it by removing tracking parameters, but keep the core address intact.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if a webpage has no publication date?

Use (n.d.) in place of the year, which stands for "no date." This is common for reference pages, FAQs, and archived material. The rest of the citation stays the same: Smith, J. (n.d.). Title of page. https://www.example.com

Do I need to include the access date for websites?

No, not for most websites. APA 7th edition removed the access date requirement. Include it only if the page content changes frequently, like Wikipedia or a live news feed. When you do include it, write: Retrieved [Month Day, Year], from URL

How do I cite a source I found through another source?

Cite the original source if you can access it directly. If you cannot, cite the source where you found it and note that it is a secondary source. For example: (Smith 2023, as cited in Johnson 2024). Then list only Johnson in your reference list, not Smith.

Can I cite a social media post or a tweet?

Yes. Use the account holder's name as the author, the date of the post, the text of the post (up to the first 20 words) as the title, and the URL. Example: Smith, J. [@jsmith]. (2024, January 15). This is the text of the tweet [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/jsmith/status/123456

What if the URL is broken or the page no longer exists?

Use the URL as it was when you accessed it. If you saved a copy or used the Wayback Machine to view an archived version, you can note that in your citation. Your teacher or publication may ask you to provide a copy of the page or explain where you found it.