APA Website Citation Generator

APA 7 Format for a Webpage on a Website

A standard webpage reference follows this order:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage in sentence case. Site Name. URL

The in-text citation usually contains the author’s surname or organization name and the year: (Author, Year). APA uses the most specific publication date that can be clearly tied to the page itself, but the in-text citation still uses the year only.

How to Cite a Website with the Generator

1. Open the exact page you used. Copy its canonical page URL rather than the website homepage, a search-results URL, or a link with unnecessary tracking parameters.
2. Paste the URL into the tool. If page details are returned, treat them as a draft to review, not as proof that every field is correct.
3. Choose Website as the source type. If the item is actually a journal article, news article, report, video, or another work, switch to the source type that describes the work itself.
4. Confirm the responsible author. Use an individual byline when one is present. Otherwise, check whether an organization takes responsibility for the content.
5. Check the page-specific date and title. Do not substitute a site-wide copyright year for a missing publication date.
6. Review the site name and URL. Omit the site name when it is the same as the group author, and keep the direct URL free of an ending period.
7. Generate both parts. Copy the full entry to the reference list and place the matching author–year citation in your text.

What to Check on the Webpage

Author

Look for a byline near the page title and for contributor information at the beginning or end of the page. If no person is credited, a government agency, university, nonprofit organization, or company may be the group author. Do not use the website name as the author automatically; it must be responsible for the content.

Publication or update date

Use the date published or a clearly labeled last-updated date when the update applies to the content you are citing. Ignore a date that only says the page was reviewed, and do not use a footer copyright year unless it is genuinely the page’s date. If no reliable date appears, use n.d.

Page title

Use the title of the specific page, not the browser tab text if it contains extra navigation or branding. Write the title in sentence case: capitalize the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon or dash that introduces a subtitle.

Site name

The site name identifies the website that contains the page. If the organization author and site name are identical, omit the repeated site name from the source element.

URL

Use a direct, working URL. APA 7 normally presents the URL without “Retrieved from” and without a period after it. A retrieval date is reserved for content designed to change over time when earlier versions are not reliably archived.

APA 7 Website Citation Examples

Webpage with an individual author

Reference: Nadworny, E. (2019, October 5). College students: How to make office hours less scary. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/05/678815966/college-students-how-to-make-office-hours-less-scary

Parenthetical citation: (Nadworny, 2019)
Narrative citation: Nadworny (2019)

Webpage with a group author that matches the site name

Reference: American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Webpage on a website references. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/webpage-website-references

Parenthetical citation: (American Psychological Association, n.d.)

The site name is omitted in this example because it would repeat the organization author.

Webpage with no date

Template: Author, A. A. (n.d.). Title of webpage. Site Name. URL

In text: (Author, n.d.)

Webpage with no author

Template: Title of webpage. (Year, Month Day). Site Name. URL

In the in-text citation, use a shortened title and the year. Match the title treatment required for that work rather than inventing an author.

Changing webpage that needs a retrieval date

Template: Author or Group. (n.d.). Title of changing page. Site Name. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Use this pattern only when the page is designed to change and a stable archived version is not the item being cited. Ordinary articles and stable webpages do not need a retrieval date.

When Not to Use the Website Source Type

Finding a work in a web browser does not make it a webpage reference. Choose the source type that describes the content:

• Journal article: include the journal, volume, issue, pages or article number, and DOI when available. See how to cite a journal article.
• Online newspaper article: use the newspaper article pattern and the full publication date.
• Report or PDF: identify the report author, title, report number when present, publisher, and URL. A PDF is a file format, not automatically a source type.
• YouTube or another online video: identify the uploader, date, title, format label, platform, and URL. See how to cite a YouTube video.
• Whole website: if you are mentioning a website as a whole rather than quoting or paraphrasing a specific page, a formal reference may not be necessary; identify the site in the text and provide its URL when useful.

Missing Authors, Dates, and Page Numbers

No named person

Check for an organization author before moving the title into the author position. About pages, editorial policies, and page footers may clarify responsibility, but they should not be used to manufacture a byline that the page does not support.

No date

Use n.d. rather than estimating a year from the design, comments, URL, or copyright notice. If the same author has several no-date works, the reference list may need suffixes such as n.d.-a and n.d.-b.

No page numbers

Page numbers are not needed when paraphrasing a webpage as a whole. For a direct quotation, use a numbered paragraph, a section heading, or both when they help the reader locate the passage: (Nadworny, 2019, “Make the Most of Office Hours” section, para. 2). The locator must describe the page you actually used.

Website Citation Review Checklist

• The URL opens the exact page used, not a homepage or search result.
• The author is the credited person or responsible organization.
• The date belongs to the page content and is as specific as the source provides.
• The page title is complete, in sentence case, and not padded with navigation text.
• The site name is omitted if it repeats the group author.
• A retrieval date appears only for content that is designed to change over time.
• The URL is not followed by a period and does not contain avoidable tracking parameters.
• The in-text author and year match the beginning of the reference entry.

For more worked cases, read how to cite a website. To understand capitalization, references, and paper layout together, use the APA format guide. Return to the main APA citation generator when you need another source type.

APA Website Citation FAQ

How do I cite a website in APA 7?

For a standard webpage, list the author, the most specific publication date, the page title, the site name, and the direct URL. Use the organization as author when it is responsible for the page and no individual byline is given.

What if the website has no author?

First look for a responsible organization. If there is genuinely no individual or group author, move the page title into the author position and use a shortened title in the in-text citation.

What if the webpage has no publication date?

Use n.d. in the date position. Do not treat a site-wide copyright year or a review date as the page’s publication date without evidence.

Do I include the date I accessed a website?

Usually not. Include a retrieval date for material intended to change over time when the version you used is not stably archived, such as a live data page or an editable reference entry.

Should the website name be repeated after an organization author?

No. When the group author and site name are the same, omit the site name to avoid repetition.

Do I write “Retrieved from” before every URL?

No. APA 7 normally gives the URL directly. The word “Retrieved” is used as part of a full retrieval date when that date is required.

How do I cite a direct quote from a webpage?

Include the author and year plus a paragraph number, section heading, or another logical locator. Do not invent a page number for an unpaginated HTML page.

Can I use the homepage URL instead of the page URL?

Use the direct page URL whenever the cited content has its own stable address. A homepage makes it harder for the reader to retrieve the exact material you used.