how to cite your websites

• Bibliography Answers

How to cite a website in APA, MLA, or Harvard style

There are many different ways to cite a website, depending on which citation style you need to format it in.

 The easy way to cite a website in any citation style

Use our citation generator below to automatically cite a website in any style, including APA, MLA 7 and 8, and Harvard. Just select the style you need, copy the URL into the search box, and press search. We’ll do the rest.

 The manual way to cite a website

To cite a website by hand just follow the instructions below. For the 3 most popular styles–APA, MLA 8, and Harvard–this is as follows:

 In APA style

You need to locate these details for the website: page or article author, page or article title, website name, published date, access date, page URL (web address) .

• The author can typically be found on the page, but if there isn’t one listed you can use the website name in its place.
• The page title can be found near the top of the page, and you can also find it by hovering your mouse over the browser tab.
• The website name can usually be found in the web address or by looking for a logo or similar at the very top of the page.
• There often isn’t a publish date , but if there is it’ll be very close to the page title.
• The access date is the date you took information from the article (usually today).
• The page URL can be copied straight from the address bar of your browser and will start with either http:// or https://.

Then use this template, replacing the colored placeholders with the information you found on the page:

Author last name , author first name initial . ( published year , published month and day ). Page title . Retrieved accessed month and day , accessed year , from article URL .

The final formatted citation should look like this:

Ingle, S. (2018, February 11). Winter Olympics was hit by cyber-attack, officials confirm. Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/11/winter-olympics-was-hit-by-cyber-attack-officials-confirm.

For a more comprehensive guide, including what to do when you can’t find certain details, have a look at our more in-depth guide to citing a website in APA format .

 In MLA 8 style

Here are the specific details you need to find on the page: page or article author, page or article title, website name, published date, access date, page URL (web address) .

Then use this template:

Author last name , author first name . “ Page title .” website name , published date day, month, year , page URL . Accessed accessed date day, month, year .

Ingle, Sean. “Winter Olympics Was Hit by Cyber-Attack, Officials Confirm.” The Guardian , 11 Feb. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/11/winter-olympics-was-hit-by-cyber-attack-officials-confirm. Accessed 13 July 2018.

For a more comprehensive guide, including what to do when you can’t find certain details, have a look at our more in-depth guide to citing a website in MLA 8 format .

 In Harvard style

First, find these details for the website: page or article author, page or article title, website name, published date, access date, page URL (web address) .

Author last name , author firstname initial ( published date year ). Page title . [online] website name . Available at: page URL [Accessed accessed date day, month, year ].

Ingle, S. (2018). Winter Olympics was hit by cyber-attack, officials confirm . [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/11/winter-olympics-was-hit-by-cyber-attack-officials-confirm [Accessed 13 Jul. 2018].

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Referencing
• Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples

Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples

Published on 19 May 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 7 November 2022.

To reference a website in Harvard style , include the name of the author or organization, the year of publication, the title of the page, the URL, and the date on which you accessed the website.

Different formats are used for other kinds of online source, such as articles, social media posts and multimedia content. You can generate accurate Harvard references for all kinds of sources with our free reference generator:

Harvard Reference Generator

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

Table of contents

Online articles, social media posts, images, videos and podcasts, referencing websites with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard website references.

Blog posts and online newspaper articles are both referenced in the same format: include the title of the article in quotation marks, the name of the blog or newspaper in italics, and the date of publication.

The format for a magazine article is slightly different. Instead of a precise date, include the month, season, or volume and issue number, depending on what the magazine uses to identify its issues.

The URL and access date information are included only when the article is online-exclusive.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

To reference posts from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, include the username and the platform in square brackets. Write usernames the way they appear on the platform, with the same capitalization and symbols.

If the post has a title, use it (in quotation marks). If the post is untitled, use the text of the post instead. Do not use italics. If the text is long, you can replace some of it with an ellipsis.

Online content is referenced differently if it is in video, audio or image form.

To cite an image found online, such as an artwork, photograph, or infographic, include the image format (e.g. ‘Photograph’, ‘Oil on canvas’) in square brackets.

Online videos, such as those on YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo and Dailymotion, are cited similarly to general web pages. Where a video is uploaded under the name of an individual, write the name in the usual format. Otherwise, write the username of the uploader as it appears on the site.

If you want to locate a specific point in a video in an in-text citation, you can do so using a timestamp.

For a podcast reference, you just need the name of the individual episode, not of the whole series. The word ‘Podcast’ is always included in square brackets. As with videos, you can use a timestamp to locate a specific point in the in-text citation.

Online sources are often missing information you would usually need for a citation: author, title or date. Here’s what to do when these details are not available.

When a website doesn’t list a specific individual author, you can usually find a corporate author to list instead. This is the organisation responsible for the source:

In cases where there’s no suitable corporate author (such as online dictionaries or Wikis), use the title of the source in the author position instead:

In Harvard style, when a source doesn’t list a specific date of publication, replace it with the words ‘no date’ in both the in-text citation and the reference list. You should still include an access date:

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Correct my document today

It’s important to assess the reliability of information found online. Look for sources from established publications and institutions with expertise (e.g. peer-reviewed journals and government agencies).

The CRAAP test (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose) can aid you in assessing sources, as can our list of credible sources . You should generally avoid citing websites like Wikipedia that can be edited by anyone – instead, look for the original source of the information in the “References” section.

You can generally omit page numbers in your in-text citations of online sources which don’t have them. But when you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a particularly long online source, it’s useful to find an alternate location marker.

For text-based sources, you can use paragraph numbers (e.g. ‘para. 4’) or headings (e.g. ‘under “Methodology”’). With video or audio sources, use a timestamp (e.g. ‘10:15’).

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, November 07). Reference a Website in Harvard Style | Templates & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 14 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-website-reference/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, a quick guide to harvard referencing | citation examples, harvard style bibliography | format & examples, harvard in-text citation | a complete guide & examples, scribbr apa citation checker.

An innovative new tool that checks your APA citations with AI software. Say goodbye to inaccurate citations!

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Cite a Website

Last Updated: February 9, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,560,894 times.

If you're writing a research paper, you'll likely do quite a bit of research online. If you have websites that you want to use as sources for your paper, an entry for the website must appear in the reference list (also called the bibliography or Works Cited) at the end of your paper. You'll also include a citation in-text at the end of any sentence in which you've paraphrased or quoted information that appeared on that website. While the information you need to provide is generally the same across all methods, the way you format that information may vary depending on whether you're using the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago style of citation.

Sample Citation Templates

• Example: Claymore, Crystal.
• If no individual author is listed, but the website is produced by a government agency, organization, or business, use that name as the author. For example, if you're using a CDC web page as a source, you would list the author as "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Tip: For your entire Works Cited entry, if an element doesn't exist or isn't provided, simply skip that part of the citation and move on to the next part.

• Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best-Kept Secrets for Amazing Cupcake Frosting."

• Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best-Kept Secrets for Amazing Cupcake Frosting." Crystal's Cupcakes , 24 Sept. 2018,

• Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best-Kept Secrets for Amazing Cupcake Frosting." Crystal's Cupcakes , 24 Sept. 2018, www.crystalscupcakes.com/amazing-frosting.

• Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best-Kept Secrets for Amazing Cupcake Frosting." Crystal's Cupcakes , www.crystalscupcakes.com/amazing-frosting. Accessed 14 Feb. 2019.

MLA Works Cited Format:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Web Page in Title Case." Name of Website , Day Month Year of publication, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

• For example, you might write: "The best cupcake frosting techniques are often the least intuitive (Claymore)."
• If you include the author's name in your text, there's no need for a parenthetical citation. For example, you might write: "Award-winning baker Crystal Claymore wasn't afraid to give away all her secrets, sharing her favorite frosting techniques on her website."

• Example: Canadian Cancer Society.

• Example: Canadian Cancer Society. (2017).
• If you're citing several pages from the same website that were published in the same year, add a lower-case letter to the end of the year so you can differentiate them in your in-text citations. For example, you might have "2017a" and "2017b."

• Example: Canadian Cancer Society. (2017). Cancer research.
• If the content you're citing is a stand-alone document, the title should be italicized. This will usually be the case if you're citing a PDF document that appears on a website. If you're not sure, use your best judgment in deciding whether to italicize it or not.

• Example: Canadian Cancer Society. (2017). Cancer research. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-101/cancer-research/?region=on

APA Reference List Format:

Author Last Name, A. A. (Year). Title of web page in sentence case. Retrieved from URL

• For example, you might write: "Clinical trials are used to test new cancer treatments (Canadian Cancer Society, 2017)."
• If you include the author's name in your text, place the year in parentheses immediately after the author's name. For example, you might write: "The Canadian Cancer Society (2017) noted that Canada is a global leader in clinical trials of cancer treatments."

• Example: UN Women.

• Example: UN Women. "Commission on the Status of Women."

• Example: UN Women. "Commission on the Status of Women." UN Women .

• Example: UN Women. "Commission on the Status of Women." UN Women . Accessed February 14, 2019.

• Example: UN Women. "Commission on the Status of Women." UN Women . Accessed February 14, 2019. http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw.

Chicago Bibliography Format:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Web Page in Title Case." Name of Website or Publishing Organization . Accessed Month Day, Year. URL.

• Example: UN Women, "Commission on the Status of Women," UN Women , accessed February 14, 2019, http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_electronic_sources.html
• ↑ https://libguides.up.edu/mla/common/websites
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
• ↑ https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/7Webpages
• ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/webpage-website-references
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/web_sources.html
• ↑ http://libanswers.snhu.edu/faq/48009

About This Article

To cite a website in text using MLA formatting, include the author's last name in parentheses at the end of the sentence you're using the source in. If there is no author, include the title of the web page instead. If you're using APA formatting, include the author's last name followed by a comma and the year of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence. If you don't know the author's name, use the name of the web page instead. For more tips from our English co-author, like how to cite a website in Chicago style, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Nov 28, 2016

Did this article help you?

Oct 2, 2017

Oct 5, 2018

Abraham Mathews

Nov 28, 2018

Apr 19, 2018

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Don’t miss out! Sign up for

wikiHow’s newsletter

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / How to Cite Sources

How to Cite Sources

Here is a complete list for how to cite sources. Most of these guides present citation guidance and examples in MLA, APA, and Chicago.

If you’re looking for general information on MLA or APA citations , the EasyBib Writing Center was designed for you! It has articles on what’s needed in an MLA in-text citation , how to format an APA paper, what an MLA annotated bibliography is, making an MLA works cited page, and much more!

MLA Format Citation Examples

The Modern Language Association created the MLA Style, currently in its 9th edition, to provide researchers with guidelines for writing and documenting scholarly borrowings.  Most often used in the humanities, MLA style (or MLA format ) has been adopted and used by numerous other disciplines, in multiple parts of the world.

MLA provides standard rules to follow so that most research papers are formatted in a similar manner. This makes it easier for readers to comprehend the information. The MLA in-text citation guidelines, MLA works cited standards, and MLA annotated bibliography instructions provide scholars with the information they need to properly cite sources in their research papers, articles, and assignments.

• Book Chapter
• Conference Paper
• Documentary
• Encyclopedia
• Google Images
• Kindle Book
• Memorial Inscription
• Museum Exhibit
• Painting or Artwork
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Sheet Music
• Thesis or Dissertation
• YouTube Video

APA Format Citation Examples

The American Psychological Association created the APA citation style in 1929 as a way to help psychologists, anthropologists, and even business managers establish one common way to cite sources and present content.

APA is used when citing sources for academic articles such as journals, and is intended to help readers better comprehend content, and to avoid language bias wherever possible. The APA style (or APA format ) is now in its 7th edition, and provides citation style guides for virtually any type of resource.

Chicago Style Citation Examples

The Chicago/Turabian style of citing sources is generally used when citing sources for humanities papers, and is best known for its requirement that writers place bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page (in Chicago-format footnotes ) or at the end of a paper (endnotes).

The Turabian and Chicago citation styles are almost identical, but the Turabian style is geared towards student published papers such as theses and dissertations, while the Chicago style provides guidelines for all types of publications. This is why you’ll commonly see Chicago style and Turabian style presented together. The Chicago Manual of Style is currently in its 17th edition, and Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is in its 8th edition.

Citing Specific Sources or Events

• Declaration of Independence
• Gettysburg Address
• Martin Luther King Jr. Speech
• President Obama’s Farewell Address
• President Trump’s Inauguration Speech
• White House Press Briefing

Additional FAQs

• Citing Archived Contributors
• Citing a Blog
• Citing a Book Chapter
• Citing a Source in a Foreign Language
• Citing an Image
• Citing a Song
• Citing Special Contributors
• Citing a Translated Article
• Citing a Tweet

6 Interesting Citation Facts

The world of citations may seem cut and dry, but there’s more to them than just specific capitalization rules, MLA in-text citations , and other formatting specifications. Citations have been helping researches document their sources for hundreds of years, and are a great way to learn more about a particular subject area.

Ever wonder what sets all the different styles apart, or how they came to be in the first place? Read on for some interesting facts about citations!

1. There are Over 7,000 Different Citation Styles

You may be familiar with MLA and APA citation styles, but there are actually thousands of citation styles used for all different academic disciplines all across the world. Deciding which one to use can be difficult, so be sure to ask you instructor which one you should be using for your next paper.

2. Some Citation Styles are Named After People

While a majority of citation styles are named for the specific organizations that publish them (i.e. APA is published by the American Psychological Association, and MLA format is named for the Modern Language Association), some are actually named after individuals. The most well-known example of this is perhaps Turabian style, named for Kate L. Turabian, an American educator and writer. She developed this style as a condensed version of the Chicago Manual of Style in order to present a more concise set of rules to students.

3. There are Some Really Specific and Uniquely Named Citation Styles

How specific can citation styles get? The answer is very. For example, the “Flavour and Fragrance Journal” style is based on a bimonthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1985 by John Wiley & Sons. It publishes original research articles, reviews and special reports on all aspects of flavor and fragrance. Another example is “Nordic Pulp and Paper Research,” a style used by an international scientific magazine covering science and technology for the areas of wood or bio-mass constituents.

4. More citations were created on  EasyBib.com  in the first quarter of 2018 than there are people in California.

The US Census Bureau estimates that approximately 39.5 million people live in the state of California. Meanwhile, about 43 million citations were made on EasyBib from January to March of 2018. That’s a lot of citations.

5. “Citations” is a Word With a Long History

The word “citations” can be traced back literally thousands of years to the Latin word “citare” meaning “to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite.” The word then took on its more modern meaning and relevance to writing papers in the 1600s, where it became known as the “act of citing or quoting a passage from a book, etc.”

6. Citation Styles are Always Changing

The concept of citations always stays the same. It is a means of preventing plagiarism and demonstrating where you relied on outside sources. The specific style rules, however, can and do change regularly. For example, in 2018 alone, 46 new citation styles were introduced , and 106 updates were made to exiting styles. At EasyBib, we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our styles and opportunities to add new ones to our list.

Why Citations Matter

Here are the ways accurate citations can help your students achieve academic success, and how you can answer the dreaded question, “why should I cite my sources?”

They Give Credit to the Right People

Citing their sources makes sure that the reader can differentiate the student’s original thoughts from those of other researchers. Not only does this make sure that the sources they use receive proper credit for their work, it ensures that the student receives deserved recognition for their unique contributions to the topic. Whether the student is citing in MLA format , APA format , or any other style, citations serve as a natural way to place a student’s work in the broader context of the subject area, and serve as an easy way to gauge their commitment to the project.

They Provide Hard Evidence of Ideas

Having many citations from a wide variety of sources related to their idea means that the student is working on a well-researched and respected subject. Citing sources that back up their claim creates room for fact-checking and further research . And, if they can cite a few sources that have the converse opinion or idea, and then demonstrate to the reader why they believe that that viewpoint is wrong by again citing credible sources, the student is well on their way to winning over the reader and cementing their point of view.

They Promote Originality and Prevent Plagiarism

The point of research projects is not to regurgitate information that can already be found elsewhere. We have Google for that! What the student’s project should aim to do is promote an original idea or a spin on an existing idea, and use reliable sources to promote that idea. Copying or directly referencing a source without proper citation can lead to not only a poor grade, but accusations of academic dishonesty. By citing their sources regularly and accurately, students can easily avoid the trap of plagiarism , and promote further research on their topic.

They Create Better Researchers

By researching sources to back up and promote their ideas, students are becoming better researchers without even knowing it! Each time a new source is read or researched, the student is becoming more engaged with the project and is developing a deeper understanding of the subject area. Proper citations demonstrate a breadth of the student’s reading and dedication to the project itself. By creating citations, students are compelled to make connections between their sources and discern research patterns. Each time they complete this process, they are helping themselves become better researchers and writers overall.

When is the Right Time to Start Making Citations?

Make in-text/parenthetical citations as you need them.

As you are writing your paper, be sure to include references within the text that correspond with references in a works cited or bibliography. These are usually called in-text citations or parenthetical citations in MLA and APA formats. The most effective time to complete these is directly after you have made your reference to another source. For instance, after writing the line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…,” you would include a citation like this (depending on your chosen citation style):

(Dickens 11).

This signals to the reader that you have referenced an outside source. What’s great about this system is that the in-text citations serve as a natural list for all of the citations you have made in your paper, which will make completing the works cited page a whole lot easier. After you are done writing, all that will be left for you to do is scan your paper for these references, and then build a works cited page that includes a citation for each one.

Need help creating an MLA works cited page ? Try the MLA format generator on EasyBib.com! We also have a guide on how to format an APA reference page .

2. Understand the General Formatting Rules of Your Citation Style Before You Start Writing

While reading up on paper formatting may not sound exciting, being aware of how your paper should look early on in the paper writing process is super important. Citation styles can dictate more than just the appearance of the citations themselves, but rather can impact the layout of your paper as a whole, with specific guidelines concerning margin width, title treatment, and even font size and spacing. Knowing how to organize your paper before you start writing will ensure that you do not receive a low grade for something as trivial as forgetting a hanging indent.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s a formatting guide on APA format .

3. Double-check All of Your Outside Sources for Relevance and Trustworthiness First

Collecting outside sources that support your research and specific topic is a critical step in writing an effective paper. But before you run to the library and grab the first 20 books you can lay your hands on, keep in mind that selecting a source to include in your paper should not be taken lightly. Before you proceed with using it to backup your ideas, run a quick Internet search for it and see if other scholars in your field have written about it as well. Check to see if there are book reviews about it or peer accolades. If you spot something that seems off to you, you may want to consider leaving it out of your work. Doing this before your start making citations can save you a ton of time in the long run.

Finished with your paper? It may be time to run it through a grammar and plagiarism checker , like the one offered by EasyBib Plus. If you’re just looking to brush up on the basics, our grammar guides  are ready anytime you are.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

Citation Basics

Harvard Referencing

Plagiarism Basics

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

Digital Citations: A comprehensive guide to citing of websites in APA, MLA, and CMOS style

In today’s digital age, the internet serves as an invaluable resource for researchers across all disciplines. As the digital knowledge repository continues to expand, citing websites has become an integral aspect of academic writing. However, scholars, from undergraduates to seasoned researchers, often find themselves grappled with the intricacies of citing online sources. In this article, we will explore the importance of digital citations and delve into the nuances of citing websites in different citation styles.

Table of Contents

Why Cite Websites?

In recent years, the reliance of online resources has surged in parallel to the exponential growth of the internet. From scholarly articles and reports to blog posts and social media threads, researchers frequently rely on web sources to support their arguments and findings. As a result, the increasing amount of data online in various websites has become an integral part of academic writing across disciplines. From scholarly articles to dissertations , researchers frequently refer online sources to stay updated on the latest research.

Moreover, citing websites enhances a researcher’s visibility by linking their work to a broader digital landscape, potentially increasing its impact and facilitating collaboration. Although citing websites is essential for effectively communicating one’s research in today’s digital landscape, finding the right website is essential to find reliable information.

Identifying the Right Websites

Identifying reliable and credible websites is paramount when gathering information for academic purposes. To ensure the quality and accuracy of your sources, consider the following tips:

1. Evaluate the Domain

Websites ending in .gov, .edu, or .org are often more credible for academic research data

2. Assess the Authorship

Look for the credentials and information about the author or organization responsible for the content

3. Verify the Content Accuracy

Evaluate the timeline and accuracy by cross-referring other reliable sources of information

4. Check for Citations

Reliable websites often cite their sources, providing a trail of evidence to support their claims

Taking time to thoroughly gauge website quality on the above criteria goes a long way in boosting scholarly impact and confidence in the evidence you bring to support arguments upon which you cite them. Additionally, the reliability of your sources directly correlates with the academic strength of your work.

Components of Website Citations

In academic writing, website citations typically include the following components:

Citing a Website in APA, MLA and CMOS Style

Citing a website in the required style can boost the academic tone. There are several styles of citing a website. Citing websites correctly is essential to adhere to the citation guidelines mentioned by your institution.

Here’s how to cite a website in APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago styles to ensure that your research papers and articles are accurately documented and credible for your readers.

1. APA Style

Includes: Author’s last name, initials. (full date of publication – Year Month Day). title of the webpage (in italics). website name (in plain text). URL of the website

In-text citation: Author, Year

Example: Nair, Anagha. (2024, February 22). Plain Language Summary — Communicating your research to bridge the academic-lay gap. Enago Academy. https://www.enago.com/academy/plain-language-summary/

(It is important to note that the name of the blog posts is italicized while citing blogs and articles.)

2. MLA Style

Includes: Author last name, first name. “title of the webpage.” website name (in italics), accessed date (Day Month Year), URL of the website

In-text citation:  Name of the website

Example of citing a webpage: Nair, Anagha. “Plain Language Summary — Communicating your research to bridge the academic-lay gap.” Enago Academy , 22 February 2024, https://www.enago.com/academy/plain-language-summary/

3. Chicago Style

Includes: Author last name, first name. “title of the webpage.” website name (in italics), accessed date (Month Day, Year). URL of the website

In-text citation: (Author Year)

Example: Nair, Anagha. Plain Language Summary — Communicating your research to bridge the academic-lay gap. Enago Academy , February 22, 2024. https://www.enago.com/academy/plain-language-summary/

When a page has no author specified, you can mention the name of the organization that created it instead. However, this can be avoided if matches to the name of the website.  Furthermore, if the date of publication is not available, “n.d.” can be used in its place. You can also include an access date (depending upon the citation style)

Understanding different citation styles when citing websites is important as it shows you understand academic conventions and demonstrates your ability to pay attention to important formatting details. Instead of citing manually, one can use citation generator tools to generate citation. Furthermore, using tools such as Enago Plagiarism Checker can help in improving your written work by detecting plagiarism, improving grammar and generate citation.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to cite a website properly in your research papers and articles.

It is important to note that some styles, like APA, may require you to include the date you accessed the webpage, especially for dynamic or frequently updated content. Furthermore, it was advisable to include DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or a stable permalink in your citation, if provided by the website, for better accessibility.

Difference Between Citing a Website and Research Papers

While citing websites shares similarities with citing research papers from journals, there are some notable differences. Websites often lack formal publication information such as volume and issue numbers, making it essential to include additional details like the URL and access date in certain citation styles. Moreover, websites may vary widely in terms of reliability and credibility, necessitating a more critical evaluation of sources.

Citing websites can improve the impact and credibility of your work. Are you a researcher struggling to cast an impact with your research? Consider Enago’s Research Impact Services to allow a team of industry experts assist your publishing journey!

Mastering the art of citing websites is essential for researchers at all stages of their academic journey. By citing sources accurately, identifying credible websites, and adhering to established citation styles, researchers can enhance the credibility and impact of their work in the digital age.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here’s how to cite a website in MLA style: Author last name, first name. “title of the webpage.” website name (in italics), accessed date (Day Month Year), URL of the website

When citing a website in text, you typically include the author's last name (if available) or the name of the organization responsible for the website, along with the year of publication (or last update), and sometimes the page or paragraph number if you're quoting directly. The specific format can vary depending on the citation style you are using (such as APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

Here’s how you can cite a website in APA style: Author’s last name, initials. (full date of publication - Year Month Day). title of the webpage (in italics). website name (in plain text). URL of the website

Here’s how you can cite a website in Chicago style: Author last name, first name. “title of the webpage.” website name (in italics), accessed date (Month Day, Year). URL of the website

Rate this article Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Enago Academy's Most Popular Articles

• Industry News
• Publishing News

Unified AI Guidelines Crucial as Academic Writing Embraces Generative Tools

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT are advancing at an accelerating pace, their…

• Reporting Research

How to Effectively Cite a PDF (APA, MLA, AMA, and Chicago Style)

The pressure to “publish or perish” is a well-known reality for academics, striking fear into…

• AI in Academia
• Trending Now

Using AI for Journal Selection — Simplifying your academic publishing journey in the smart way

Strategic journal selection plays a pivotal role in maximizing the impact of one’s scholarly work.…

• Career Corner

Recognizing the signs: A guide to overcoming academic burnout

As the sun set over the campus, casting long shadows through the library windows, Alex…

• Diversity and Inclusion

Reassessing the Lab Environment to Create an Equitable and Inclusive Space

The pursuit of scientific discovery has long been fueled by diverse minds and perspectives. Yet…

Using AI for Journal Selection — Simplifying your academic publishing journey in the…

Choosing the Right Analytical Approach: Thematic analysis vs. content analysis for…

Sign-up to read more

Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including:

• 2000+ blog articles
• 50+ Webinars
• 10+ Expert podcasts
• 50+ Infographics
• 10+ Checklists
• Research Guides

We hate spam too. We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you.

I am looking for Editing/ Proofreading services for my manuscript Tentative date of next journal submission:

As a researcher, what do you consider most when choosing an image manipulation detector?

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the  MLA Handbook  and in chapter 7 of the  MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's  The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the  internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in  Nature  in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's  The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's  Evaluating Sources of Information  resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

• Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
• Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
• Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like  CNN.com  or  Forbes.com,  as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009. 

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.

• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides

Citation Machine® — Write Smarter

Start a new citation or manage your existing bibliographies.

Scan your paper for plagiarism and grammar errors.

Check your paper for grammar and plagiarism

Catch plagiarism and grammar mistakes with our paper checker

Use Citation Machine® Plus to get smart recommendations!

Scan your paper for unintentional plagiarism and get advanced recommendations for sentence structure, writing style, grammar and more!

• expert check

Know you're citing correctly

No matter what citation style you're using (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) we'll help you create the right bibliography

Check for unintentional plagiarism

Scan your paper the way your teacher would to catch unintentional plagiarism. Then, easily add the right citation

Strengthen your writing

Give your paper an in-depth check. Receive feedback within 24 hours from writing experts on your paper's main idea, structure, conclusion, and more.

Find and fix grammar errors

Don't give up sweet paper points for small mistakes. Our algorithms flag grammar and writing issues and provide smart suggestions

See what's included with Citation Machine® Plus

Citation machine® guides & resources, mla format: everything you need to know and more.

Filled with a wide variety of examples and visuals, our Citation Machine® MLA guide will help you master the citation process. Learn how to cite websites, books, journal articles, magazines, newspapers, films, social media, and more!

MLA Citation Generator | Website | Books | Journal Articles | YouTube | Images | Movies | Interview | PDFs

Comprehensive Guide to APA Format

Our Citation Machine® APA guide is a one-stop shop for learning how to cite in APA format. Read up on what APA is, or use our citing tools and APA examples to create citations for websites, books, journals, and more!

APA Citation Generator | Website | Books | Journal Articles | YouTube | Images | Movies | Interview | PDFs

Everything You Need to Know About Chicago Style

Creating citations in Chicago style has never been easier thanks to our extensive Citation Machine® Chicago style guide and tools. Learn about footnotes, endnotes, and everything in between, or easily create citations for websites, books, journal articles, and more!

Chicago Citation Generator | Website | Books | Journal Articles | YouTube | Images | Movies | Interview | PDFs

Citation Machine®’s Ultimate Writing Guides

Whether you’re a student, writer, foreign language learner, or simply looking to brush up on your grammar skills, our comprehensive grammar guides provide an extensive overview on over 50 grammar-related topics. Confused about reflexive verbs, demonstrative adjectives, or conjunctive adverbs? Look no further! Learn about these grammar topics and many, many more in our thorough and easy to understand reference guides!

Citing Sources Guide | Grammar Guide | Plagiarism Guide | Writing Tips

Student Blog

Stay up to date! Get research tips and citation information or just enjoy some fun posts from our student blog.

• Citation Machine® Plus
• Citation Guides
• Chicago Style
• Harvard Referencing
• Terms of Use
• Global Privacy Policy
• Cookie Notice
• DO NOT SELL MY INFO

Referencing Generator

Powered by chegg.

• Select style:
• Archive material
• Chapter of an edited book
• Conference proceedings
• Dictionary entry
• Dissertation
• DVD, video, or film
• E-book or PDF
• Edited book
• Encyclopedia article
• Government publication
• Music or recording
• Online image or video
• Presentation
• Press release
• Religious text

What Is Cite This For Me’s Reference Generator?

Cite This For Me’s open-access generator is an automated citation machine that turns any of your sources into references in just a click. Using a reference generator helps students to integrate referencing into their research and writing routine; turning a time-consuming ordeal into a simple task.

A referencing generator accesses information from across the web, drawing the relevant information into a fully-formatted bibliography that clearly presents all of the sources that have contributed to your work.

If you don’t know how to reference a website correctly, or have a fast-approaching deadline, Cite This For Me’s accurate and intuitive reference generator will lend you the confidence to realise your full academic potential. In order to get a grade that reflects all your hard work, your references must be accurate and complete. Using a citation machine not only saves you time but also ensures that you don’t lose valuable marks on your assignment.

Not sure how to format your citations, what citations are, or just want to find out more about Cite This For Me’s reference generator? This guide outlines everything you need to know to equip yourself with the know-how and confidence to research and cite a wide range of diverse sources in your work.

Why Do I Need To Reference?

Simply put, when another source contributes to your work, you have to give the original owner the appropriate credit. After all, you wouldn’t steal someone else’s possessions so why would you steal their ideas?

Regardless of whether you are referencing a website, an article or a podcast, any factual material or ideas you take from another source must be acknowledged in a citation unless it is common knowledge (e.g. Winston Churchill was English). Failing to credit all of your sources, even when you’ve paraphrased or completely reworded the information, is plagiarism. Plagiarising will result in disciplinary action, which can range from losing precious marks on your assignment to expulsion from your university.

What’s more, attributing your research infuses credibility and authority into your work, both by supporting your own ideas and by demonstrating the breadth of your research. For many students, crediting sources can be a confusing and tedious process, but it’s a surefire way to improve the quality of your work so it’s essential to get it right. Luckily for you, using Cite This For Me’s reference generator makes creating accurate references easier than ever, leaving more time for you to excel in your studies.

In summary, the citing process serves three main functions:

• To validate the statements and conclusions in your work by providing directions to other sound sources that support and verify them.
• To help your readers locate, read and check your sources, as well as establishing their contribution to your work.
• To give credit to the original author and hence avoid committing intellectual property theft (known as ‘plagiarism’ in academia).

How Do I Cite My Sources With The Cite This For Me Referencing Generator?

Cite This For Me’s reference generator is the most accurate citation machine available, so whether you’re not sure how to format in-text references or are looking for a foolproof solution to automate a fully-formatted bibliography, this referencing generator will solve all of your citing needs.

Crediting your source material doesn’t just prevent you from losing valuable marks for plagiarism, it also provides all of the information to help your reader find for themselves the book, article, or other item you are citing. The accessible interface of the reference generator makes it easy for you to identify the source you have used – simply enter its unique identifier into the citation machine search bar. If this information is not available you can search for the title or author instead, and then select from the search results that appear below the reference generator.

Don’t know how to reference a website? The good news is that by using tools such as Cite This For Me’s reference generator, which help you work smarter, you don’t need to limit your research to sources that are traditional to cite. In fact, there are no limits to what you can cite, whether you are referencing a website, a YouTube video or a tweet.

To use the reference generator, simply:

• Select your style from Harvard, APA, OSCOLA and many more*
• Choose the type of source you would like to cite (e.g. website, book, journal, video)
• Enter the URL , DOI , ISBN , title, or other unique source information to find your source
• Click the ‘Cite’ button on the reference generator
• Copy your new citation straight from the referencing generator into your bibliography
• Repeat for each source that has contributed to your work.

*If you require another style for your paper, essay or other academic work, you can select from over 1,000 styles by creating a free Cite This For Me account.

Once you have created your Cite This For Me account you will be able to use the reference generator to create multiple references and save them into a project. Use Cite This For Me’s highly-rated iOS or Android apps to generate references in a flash with your smartphone camera, export your complete bibliography in one go, and much more.

What Will The Reference Generator Create For Me?

Cite This For Me’s reference generator will create your citation in two parts: an in-text citation and a full citation to be copied straight into your work.

The reference generator will auto-generate the correct formatting for your bibliography depending on your chosen style. For instance, if you select a parenthetical style the reference generator will generate an in-text citation in parentheses, along with a full citation to slot into your bibliography. Likewise, if the reference generator is set to a footnote style then it will create a fully-formatted citation for your reference list and bibliography, as well as a corresponding footnote to insert at the bottom of the page containing the relevant source.

Parenthetical style examples:

In-text example: A nation has been defined as an imagined community (Anderson, 2006).* Alternative format: Anderson (2006) defined a nation as an imagined community.

*The reference generator will create your references in the first style, but this should be edited if the author’s name already appears in the text.

Bibliography / Works Cited list example: Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined Communities. London: Verso.

What Are Citation Styles?

A citation style is a set of rules that you, as an academic writer, must follow to ensure the quality and relevance of your work. There are thousands of styles that are used in different academic institutions around the world, but in the UK the most common are Harvard, APA and Oscola.

The style you need to use will depend on the preference of your lecturer, discipline or academic institution – so if you’re unsure which style you should be using, consult your department and follow their guidelines exactly, as this is what you’ll be evaluated on when it comes to marking. You can also find your university’s style by logging into your Cite This For Me account and setting your institution in ‘My Profile’.

Citing isn’t just there to guard against plagiarism – presenting your research in a clear and consistent way eases the reader’s comprehension. Each style has a different set of rules for formatting both the page and your references. Be sure to adhere to formatting rules such as font type, font size and line spacing to ensure that your work is easily legible. Furthermore, if your work is published as part of an anthology or collected works, each entry will need to be presented in the same style to maintain uniformity throughout. It is important to make sure that you don’t jump from one style to another, so follow the rules carefully to ensure your reference list and bibliography are both accurate and complete.

If you need a hand with your citations then why not try Cite This For Me’s reference generator? It’s the quickest and easiest way to cite any source, in any style. The reference generator above will create your citations in the Harvard referencing style as standard, but it can generate fully-formatted references in over 1,000 styles – including university variations of each style. So, whether your lecturer has asked you to adopt APA referencing , or your subject requires you to use OSCOLA referencing , we’re sure to have the style you need. To access all of them, simply go to Cite This For Me’s website to create your free Cite This For Me account and search for your specific style such as MLA or Vancouver .

How Do I Format A Reference List Or Bibliography?

Drawing on a wide range of sources greatly enhances the quality of your work, and reading above and beyond your recommended reading list – and then using these sources to support your own thesis – is an excellent way to impress your reader. A clearly presented reference list or bibliography demonstrates the lengths you have gone to in researching your chosen topic.

Typically, a reference list starts on a new page at the end of the main body of text and includes a complete list of the sources you have actually cited in your paper. This list should contain all the information needed for the reader to locate the original source of the information, quote or statistic that directly contributed to your work. On the other hand, a bibliography is a comprehensive list of all the material you may have consulted throughout your research and writing process. Both provide the necessary information for readers to retrieve and check the sources cited in your work.

Each style’s guidelines will define the terminology of ‘reference list’ and ‘bibliography’, as well as providing formatting guidelines for font, line spacing and page indentations. In addition, it will instruct you on how to order each list – this will usually be either alphabetical or chronological (meaning the order that these sources appear in your work). Before submitting your work, be sure to check that you have formatted your whole paper according to your style’s formatting guidelines.

Sounds complicated? Citing has never been so easy; Cite This For Me’s reference generator will automatically generate fully-formatted citations for your reference list or bibliography in your chosen style. Sign in to your Cite This For Me account to save and export your bibliography.

How Do References Actually Work?

Although the reference generator will create your bibliography for you in record time, it is still useful to understand how this system works behind the scenes. As well as saving you time with its referencing generator, Cite This For Me provides the learning resources to help you fully understand the citing process and the benefits of adopting great citing standards.

The referencing process:

• Find a book, journal, website or other source that will contribute to your work
• Save the quote, image, data or other information that you will use in your work
• Save the source information that enables you to find it again (i.e. URL, ISBN, DOI etc.)
• Format the source information into a citation
• Copy and paste the citation into the body of the text
• Repeat for each source that contributes to your work.
• Export or copy and paste the fully-formatted citation into your bibliography.

Manage all your references in one place

Create projects, add notes, cite directly from the browser and scan books’ barcodes with a mobile app.

Sign up to Cite This For Me – the ultimate reference management tool.

Create a Free Website

With w3schools spaces, code websites directly in the browser with w3schools spaces, no credit card required..

Coding Skills

Powerful Code Editor

Front-end, back-end or full-stack - the choice is yours, choose your plan.

By subscribing to a plan you support the W3Schools mission to make learning available to everyone - no matter their background.

$0 /Forever

This is for you that are beginning to explore coding and web development

• Build and host 1 static website
• 100 credits/month Access various AI features like W3Schools kAI coding tutor and interview preparation.

W3Schools Plus

$14.99 /Month

This is for you that want to learn and reach your goals faster. Build fullstack projects, ad free experience.

• Ad-free experience
• Build and host 15 static websites
• Build and host 1 full stack server
• Choose from 18 frameworks / languages
• Choose from 75+ templates
• 50000 credits/month Access various AI features like W3Schools kAI coding tutor and interview preparation.
• Priority Support
• Cancel anytime

W3Schools Classroom

Contact us for information

W3Schools right to use and Plus for educational institutions or enterprise customers

• Everything in W3Schools Plus
• Certification Exams
• And much more!

NEW SUBSCRIBER DEAL

Use promo code:, want custom domains.

You can also buy a domain or connect an existing one.

Looking to add multiple users?

Just landed in Spaces

Learn to code more effectively and intelligently with kAI - AI tutor

Hi! I'm kAI, W3Schools AI Tutor...

Feel free to ask me any coding-related questions, and I'll do my best to assist you.

I can help you checking your code for errors, improving your code's structure, explaining coding concepts in a clear and understandable way, and more...

I can even create complete websites for you based on your input, so what are you waiting for?

Practice Makes Perfect

Sharpen and master your development skills with these technologies using spaces ..

Save Time with Templates

Build powerful websites in just a few clicks.

Super Simple to Share

Host and publish websites in no time, included for free in all plans, w3schools subdomain, hosting, and ssl certificate., buy a domain or transfer an existing one and connect it to your space..

How it works

Coding Made Easy

All at your fingertips with our easy-to-use code editor.

Cloud-Based

Save time & money., no installation required. access everything in your browser. get started in seconds..

File Navigator

All your files in one place., find and switch easily between your code files without leaving the code editor..

Terminal and Log

Fix your code faster., monitor your code, debug and troubleshoot your work during the development process..

Get Full Data Visibility.

Find and preview all the data stored in your website. anytime, from anywhere..

Environment Manager

Increased control and security., control your website access points to establish secure connections..

Package Manager

Find what you need quicker., search and install frameworks and libraries in just one click..

User Analytics

Get traffic insights., learn from your website visitors to deliver a better user experience., get inspired, connect and share your website with the community to get instant feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions

With Basic Spaces, you can build frontend websites. Whereas with Fullstack Spaces, you can build frontend and backend websites.

Basic Spaces include HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Full Stack Spaces include everything in Basic Spaces plus PHP, Python, React.js, Vue.js, Node.js, Handlebars, and Django.

Your subscription will be automatically renewed every month.

Your access to all the benefits for the paid period of time will continue. However, the subscription will not be renewed automatically.

To subscribe W3Schools accounts for multiple users, you can contact [email protected]

Have some other questions? Visit our support page

Cancel anytime., contact sales.

If you want to use W3Schools services as an educational institution, team or enterprise, send us an e-mail: [email protected]

Report Error

If you want to report an error, or if you want to make a suggestion, send us an e-mail: [email protected]

Top Tutorials

Top references, top examples, get certified.

S. 4296: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide more opportunities for mothers to succeed, and for other purposes.

React to this bill with an emoji, save your opinion on this bill on a six-point scale from strongly oppose to strongly support.

(Shared on panel .)

Widget for your website

Get a bill status widget »

Follow GovTrack on social media for more updates:

Visit us on Mastodon

• Study Guide

Add a note about this bill. Your note is for you and will not be shared with anyone.

Because you are a member of panel , your positions on legislation and notes below will be shared with the panel administrators. ( More Info )

Sponsor and status

Introduced on May 9, 2024

This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on May 9, 2024. It will typically be considered by committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Other activity may have occurred on another bill with identical or similar provisions.

Katie Britt

Junior Senator for Alabama

Not available yet.

13 Cosponsors (13 Republicans)

S. 4296 is a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 4296. This is the one from the 118 th Congress.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA -formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

GovTrack.us. (2024). S. 4296 — 118th Congress: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide more opportunities for mothers …. Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s4296

“S. 4296 — 118th Congress: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide more opportunities for mothers ….” www.GovTrack.us. 2024. May 14, 2024 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s4296>

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide more opportunities for mothers to succeed, and for other purposes, S. 4296, 118th Cong. (2024).

{{cite web |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s4296 |title=S. 4296 (118th) |accessdate=May 14, 2024 |author=118th Congress (2024) |date=May 9, 2024 |work=Legislation |publisher=GovTrack.us |quote=A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide more opportunities for mothers … }}

• show another citation format:
• Wikipedia Template

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov , the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project .

Prognosis Details

This bill has a . . .

2% chance of getting past committee. 1% chance of being enacted.

Only 11% of bills made it past committee and only about 2% were enacted in 2021–2023.

Factors considered:

These factors are correlated with either an increased or decreased chance of being enacted.

Please read our full methodology for further details.

[error message]

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

• Services & Software

How to Host a Website

A detailed guide to what you need to host a website, plus the six essential steps to hosting a website.

You’ve decided to build a website. You know what you want it to be about, and you might even have a name in mind. Now, you need to figure out how to host a website.

That’s where I come in. I’ve been building websites for over 15 years, and I’ve learned a lot about creating and hosting them. I’ll share the most important steps to hosting a website so you can get started.

What does it mean to host a website?

Hosting a website makes your site available online by putting all of your website files on a web server.

A web server is a specialized computer with software for storing website files such as blog posts and sending them to users’ browsers so your visitors can view them. These servers run 24/7, so users can access your website at any time.

Web servers are usually complicated to set up and expensive to maintain. Thankfully, you don’t need to understand exactly how they work to learn how to host a website -- plenty of companies are happy to manage web servers for you.

What you need to host a website

You need two things to host a website: a domain name and web hosting.

Domain name

A domain name -- often shortened to just “domain” -- is the name people use to find your website. For example, our domain is CNET.com. 

Most companies, including CNET, use their business names as domain names. This ensures consistency in branding and helps customers easily find your website.

There are two ways to secure a domain name:

• Through a domain registrar: These companies, like Namecheap , specialize in registering and managing domains. You can buy just a domain from these companies.
• Through a web host: Most web hosting companies offer domain registration. Many even provide free domains bundled into their web hosting plans -- at least for the first year -- so you won’t need to pay a separate fee to get one.

If you don’t have a domain name in mind, or you discover the one you want to use is taken, you can use a domain name generator tool to find the perfect domain. Then you can move on to the second thing you’ll need to host a website, which is website hosting.

Web hosting

Web server room

Web hosting services provide server space to store your website. You can create your own web server, but in most cases you’ll want to rent out server space from a web hosting company, as server setup and maintenance is a complicated and expensive process.

Web hosting companies create, configure and maintain web servers, which they then rent to website owners.

The best web hosting companies provide various tools to help you build and run your website. Some even offer other tools for creating an online business, like email hosting and professional design services.

How to host a website in 6 steps

Once you know what your site will be about and what domain name you want, here’s what you need to do to host a website.

1. Decide if you want to use a content management system or a website builder

There are two types of tools that you can use to build and manage your site, a CMS or a website builder.

WordPress admin dashboard

A CMS is software that provides the tools you need to design, organize, publish and manage website content like blog posts. Some of these are proprietary, like the CMS used by Shopify. Others are open-source, meaning you can install them on any hosting company’s servers.

Content management systems are highly flexible but can be difficult to use if you’re not technically inclined. The most commonly used CMS is WordPress. Other options include Magento, Joomla and Drupal.

Most content management systems don’t require the use of code like HTML or JavaScript, but they do allow you to customize your site with code if you want to.

Website builder

A website using a Squarespace template inside the Squarespace site creation area

A website builder is a visual design tool that allows you to build a website without installing templates, extensions or other tools. Many also offer AI tools that generate a site design for you based on information you share about your website/business.

These tools are often proprietary, so you’ll usually need to buy hosting from the company that offers the website builder you want to use. Most website builders also have limited customization options when compared with a CMS like WordPress.

Website builders don’t require you to use code to build your website. In fact, most don’t allow this option at all -- or they restrict it to higher-tier plans.

How to choose between a CMS and a website builder

So, how do you choose the best option for your site?

• Choose a CMS if you want the most extensive customization options available and don’t mind a software learning curve. A CMS is also a good choice if you want to have a wide range of hosting (and pricing) options.
• Choose a website builder if you want the simplest, most streamlined website-building experience possible, and you’re happy sticking with a host compatible with that website builder (typically the company that created it).

2. Choose a web hosting type

If you want to use a website builder, you’ll probably choose website builder hosting. These plans come with the website builder pre-installed and use shared hosting -- when purchased through a company like Hostinger -- or cloud hosting -- when purchased through a company like Squarespace .

If you want to use a CMS, you can choose any of the most popular types of web hosting:

Shared hosting

Shared hosting stores your website on a shared server. This means your site can slow down if another site on the server experiences a traffic spike and starts hogging the shared resources. 

High-traffic sites -- sites that regularly have several hundred thousand visitors in a month -- won’t do well on shared hosting, but its affordability makes it a great option for small businesses.

WordPress hosting

WordPress hosting is web hosting that comes with WordPress pre-installed. This type of hosting may also include tools like specialized WordPress caching for improved loading speeds. Most of these plans include automated WordPress updates and maintenance.

Some WordPress hosting plans use cloud or VPS hosting, but the majority of these plans are shared hosting plans.

Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting stores your website on several servers, allowing it to handle large amounts of traffic. These servers are located in multiple data centers, ensuring faster loading speeds for visitors from different locations and reducing the possibility of your site going down. 

Cloud hosting is often more expensive than shared hosting.

VPS hosting

VPS hosting, short for virtual private server hosting, divides one physical server into virtual servers with dedicated resources. 

VPS hosting can handle more significant traffic than shared hosting but is typically more expensive and complicated to manage than shared or cloud hosting. You can choose host-managed options to avoid configuring things yourself, but this will further increase costs.

Dedicated hosting

A rack of web servers

Dedicated hosting gives you an entire physical server. This maximizes the amount of resources you have access to and provides extensive customization options. However, dedicated web hosting is usually both expensive and complicated to maintain.

Like VPS hosting, dedicated hosting can come with a host-managed option where the hosting company handles server configuration and management for you, but this is often very expensive.

How to choose a type of web hosting

In most cases, I recommend choosing shared hosting for your first website. This keeps your expenses relatively low and requires little to no setup on your end. You can also choose cloud hosting for minimal setup, but cloud hosting tends to be more expensive.

If you’re building a website for a real-world business and expect hundreds of thousands of visitors, consider more advanced hosting types such as VPS or dedicated hosting. However, it’s important to consider the cost, as you’ll either need to choose an expensive managed option or hire a system administrator to manage your server.

3. Choose a web hosting company

A web host is the company you’ll rent server space from.

For a website builder, I recommend Squarespace , Wix or -- if you’re an e-commerce brand with a significant budget --  Shopify . Many traditional web hosting companies now offer more affordable website builders, but they aren’t as flexible or as well-supported.

If you’re using a CMS, there are many great options. Two companies I specifically recommend are Ionos and SiteGround . These companies provide a variety of hosting plans with top-notch security features, guaranteed uptime of 99.99% and high-quality customer service. 

Here are some of the factors to consider in your web hosting search:

• Uptime: If your website is down when someone attempts to visit, they’ll go somewhere else. Downtime reduces your audience, reduces the trust your existing audience has in your site and may lose you money. You’ll want to choose a web host with a 99.99% uptime guarantee to avoid this.
• Speed: Good web hosts use tools like caching and content delivery networks or CDNs. Caching stores key information in your visitors’ browsers and CDNs store information in data centers around the globe, ensuring fast loading times for visitors all over the world.
• Security: A good web hosting service includes several features to keep your data (and your users’ data) safe. Look for a web host with SSL certification, firewall protection and regular server updates.
• Ease of use: Look for a company that uses an interface like cPanel -- the industry standard for website file management -- to simplify site maintenance. You may also want to consider a company with WordPress hosting and/or managed hosting plans that handle software updates for you.
• Scalability: Your web host should be able to accommodate your website as it grows by offering a variety of shared hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated hosting plans that you can upgrade to.
• Customer service: Choose a company with multiple ways to contact 24/7 customer support via phone, live chat and/or email. Look at reviews to ensure that the company you’re considering responds to customer support inquiries in a timely and helpful manner.

You can see a full list of factors to consider when choosing a web host in our guide about what web hosting is .

4. Purchase a web hosting package

Next, you’ll need to choose the best web hosting plan for your site’s needs. There are a few factors to consider here:

• Storage space: If you’re building a freelance portfolio, you’ll probably do fine with minimal storage space. If you want to create a blog, a membership site or another type of website with large amounts of content, choose a plan with at least 10GB of storage space.
• Bandwidth: Bandwidth dictates how fast your website loads for visitors and how many visitors can visit your site. Many plans offer unmetered or unlimited plans to accommodate significant traffic spikes.
• Domain: Some plans include a free domain, either for one year or permanently, bundled into the hosting plan.
• CMS support: Most high-quality web hosting plans offer one-click installation for WordPress and other popular CMS options. Some come with WordPress (or another CMS) pre-installed, so you can start building a website right away.
• Management: On a shared or cloud hosting plan, web hosting companies manage your server for you. Some plans take this further by managing your CMS for you (these plans are often only available for WordPress), ensuring that it stays up-to-date and secure.
• Backups: Many web hosting plans include daily or weekly backups, automatically saving all of your data to a secondary server. If there’s an issue with your site, you can use these backups to restore it quickly.
• Ability to host multiple websites: If you plan to create separate websites for different countries where you do business or different types of content you want to publish, you might want to seek a plan where you can host all of them.
• Extras: Some web hosting plans come with extras like email hosting, which allows you to have one or more custom email addresses at your domain.

A note about “unlimited”: Some plans claim to offer unlimited storage or bandwidth. These plans almost always do have an upper limit -- the limit is just so high that most sites will never reach them. If you want to know this upper limit, you’ll have to search for it in the Terms of Service, or TOS.

At this point, you’re probably wondering: Where is pricing? Pricing is important -- in fact, it’s so important, and so convoluted in the web hosting space, that it deserves its own section.

Here’s what you need to know about web hosting costs:

• Be prepared to pay annually. Web hosts often list their prices as “$x a month,” but many don’t actually offer month-to-month plans. So, you’ll need to multiply the monthly cost by 12 (more if you want to sign up for multiple years) to understand your initial cost.
• Your initial cost won’t be your long-term cost. You’ll often see a low price listed with an asterisk mentioning a standard rate. The low price will only be valid for your first term. When your contract renews, you’ll be moved up to the standard rate, so you’ll need to factor this rate into your long-term budgeting.
• The web host may automatically include add-ons. Sometimes a web host will automatically add services to your package during the checkout process, complete with extra fees. Always triple-check your cart for these sneaky add-ons.

Can’t I just choose a company that doesn’t do these things? Unfortunately, the first two items listed above are standard practice in the industry. You’ll have a hard time finding a company that doesn’t do these things.

You can find a company that doesn’t automatically bundle add-ons into your web hosting package, though -- in fact, most of the companies on our list of the best web hosting companies of 2024 fall into this category.

Most of all, be sure to choose a plan that will accommodate your site now and through the growth you expect in the next year (or however long you’re purchasing hosting for). Most reputable web hosts make switching to a higher-tier plan easy, but this unexpected cost can derail your annual budget.

5. Register a domain

If your hosting package includes a domain, you’ll have registered your domain during the checkout process.

If you didn’t get a domain when you purchased your web hosting package, you can buy one from a domain registrar. To get the most out of this option, choose a domain registrar that:

• Offers good long-term pricing: Like web hosting, domain prices are often lower during the first contract term. The price increase here is often only a few dollars, but this can add up over several years.
• Includes domain privacy: When registering a domain, you’re required to enter contact information, including a physical address. Your contact information is automatically published in the WHOIS Database . If you don’t want these details to be public, you can use domain privacy to replace them with points of contact maintained by your registrar.
• Is trustworthy: Look for a domain registrar with good reviews on sites like Trustpilot . Specifically, look for references to how easy the company makes it to manage domains and how well their customer service team operates.

Personally, I’ve used Namecheap for years. The domain registration and management processes are easy, there’s great customer service and the long-term pricing is excellent.

Once you’ve selected a registrar, you can search for the domain you want, select it (and any other variations you want to buy) and make your purchase. You’ll also need to create an account for managing your domain.

6. Connect a domain to your web hosting plan

If you’ve purchased your domain from a registrar, you’ll need to point it to your host’s nameservers. The exact process will vary depending on the registrar and web host you’re using, but it can typically be done in five steps:

• Find your web host’s nameservers. You can often locate these in the welcome email you get when you purchase web hosting. Check your account dashboard if you don’t find them in your email.
• Open the management area for your domain. Typically, this is accessed by logging into your account and clicking on the domain you want to manage.
• Find the Nameservers area of your domain management. This will typically be set to “(Your Registrar DNS).” Switch it to Custom DNS . Here’s an example of what this area looks like on Namecheap:

Namecheap DNS settings "Custom DNS" area

• Copy and paste the nameservers listed for your web host into the appropriate spaces in your domain management area.
• Save your new domain settings.

Your domain then transfers to the newly designated nameservers. This often happens within a few hours, but can take up to 72 hours.

The bottom line: What you need to host a website

Web hosting companies make it easy to host a website without any technical experience. What you do need is a firm understanding of web hosting terms, web hosting plans and domain registration.

How to host a website FAQs

How can i host my own websites.

The easiest way to host your own websites is to purchase a plan from a web hosting company. Most web hosting plans give you space on pre-configured servers, though more advanced plans give you a virtual or physical server that you’ll have to configure yourself.

You can also build your own server to host your website on. However, I don’t recommend this option to most people as it requires significant financial investment and technical skill.

Can I host my own website for free?

There are free web hosting options available, but they tend to come with strict limitations on storage, bandwidth and customization. Most also show ads on your website. These ads pay the hosting company, not you, and you have no control over their content.

If you want to create a professional-looking website and have enough resources to handle a growing audience, you’ll need to select a paid plan.

What is the simplest way to host a website?

The simplest way to host a website is to purchase web hosting from a website builder company like Squarespace . These companies have straightforward hosting plans that come with built-in website builders so you don’t have to choose a type of web hosting or set up a CMS.

How much does it cost to host a website?

The cost of hosting a website depends on the type of hosting you choose, the specific company you work with and the plan you purchase. 

Many web hosting companies offer plans with starting prices of $2 to $4 per month, with renewal prices going up to $10 to $12 per month.

Services and Software Guides

• Best iPhone VPN
• Best Free VPN
• Best Android VPN
• Best Mac VPN
• Best Mobile VPN
• Best VPN for Firestick
• Best VPN for Windows
• Fastest VPN
• Best Cheap VPN
• Best Password Manager
• Best Antivirus
• Best Identity Theft Protection
• Best LastPass Alternative
• Best Live TV Streaming Service
• Best Streaming Service
• Best Free TV Streaming Service
• Best Music Streaming Services
• Best Web Hosting
• Best Minecraft Server Hosting
• Best Website Builder
• Best Dating Sites
• Best Language Learning Apps
• Best Weather App
• Best Stargazing Apps
• Best Cloud Storage
• Best Resume Writing Services
• New Coverage on Operating Systems

Advertisement

U.S. pauses weapons shipment to Israel citing concern over imminent Rafah invasion

Copy the code below to embed the wbur audio player on your site.

<iframe width="100%" height="124" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://player.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/05/08/us-weapons-israel"></iframe>

Civilians are fleeing Rafah after Israel warned of a potential invasion into the Gazan city. Meanwhile, a U.S. official says the Biden administration paused a weapons shipment out of concern for the offensive's impact on Palestinians.

Washington Post National security reporter John Hudson joins us.

This segment aired on May 8, 2024.

More from Here & Now