Site Reference APA: How to Cite a Website in APA Style with Examples

Updated May 2026.

A site reference in APA style is one of the most useful citation skills for any academic writer. Websites, blog posts, online lecture slides, and other digital sources show up in nearly every paper. The American Psychological Association has clear rules for each type. This guide covers what you need to know. It explains how to format an APA in-text citation for a website. It shows how to format the matching reference list entry. It also covers how the rules shift for different kinds of online sources.

Quick Answer: APA Website Reference

In-text format.
(Author Last, Year). Example: (Etton, 2024). For three or more authors, use "et al." from the first citation.

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

Key rules.
Use sentence case for titles. Italicize webpage and blog post titles. Don't put a period after the URL. Use n.d. for missing dates. List all authors up to 20 in the reference list.

What Is APA Style and Why Does It Matter?

APA style is a set of formatting and citation rules from the American Psychological Association. It's used most often in the social sciences, education, psychology, and related fields. It gives writers a standard framework for citing sources. That way readers can find and check every source. For a broader look at the major citation styles, read our article on citation styles.

APA citations appear in two places in a paper. The first is the in-text citation in the body. The second is the full reference list entry at the end. Both are required. Every in-text citation must have a matching reference list entry. Every reference list entry must be cited somewhere in the body.

APA Site Reference: In-Text Citation Format

In-text citations for websites follow the same basic format as in-text citations for other sources. There are two ways to include one. You can mention the author within the sentence. Or you can put the citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

One Author

For a single author within the sentence, include the author's last name followed by the year in parentheses.

Within the sentence: "Etton (2024) found that..."
At the end of the sentence: "One study found that... (Etton, 2024)."

Two Authors

For a source with two authors, include both last names every time you cite it. Use "and" between names within the sentence. Use "&" when the names appear in parentheses.

Within the sentence: "Etton and Sillfon (2024) showed that..."
At the end of the sentence: "One study showed that... (Etton & Sillfon, 2024)."

Three or More Authors

For three or more authors, include only the first author's last name. Follow it with "et al." (which means "and others"). Use this format from the first citation in APA 7th edition. APA 6th edition required listing all authors on the first mention; that rule was dropped in APA 7.

Within the sentence: "Etton et al. (2024) found that..." or "Etton and colleagues (2024) found that..."
At the end of the sentence: "One study found that... (Etton et al., 2024)."

No Author

If a website has no clear author, use a shortened version of the page title in place of the author name. Put the title in quotation marks for a webpage. Italicize it for a standalone document.

Within the sentence: "According to 'How to Format a Reference List' (2022)..."
At the end of the sentence: "...("How to Format a Reference List," 2022)."

No Date

If no publication date is available, use "n.d." (which means "no date") in place of the year.

Within the sentence: "Etton (n.d.) states that..."
At the end of the sentence: "...according to recent guidance (Etton, n.d.)."

APA Site Reference: Reference List Format

The reference list appears at the end of the paper. Entries are sorted in alphabetical order by the first author's last name. The first line of each entry sits flush at the left margin. Any continuation lines are indented by 0.5 inches. This is the standard hanging indent format that APA style requires.

The general format for a website reference list entry in APA style is:

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

Using the example names from the in-text section:

Etton, K., & Sillfon, M. (2024, March 27). Title of the article on the website. Publisher Name. https://www.examplepublisher.com/article-url

Here are the key rules for APA website reference list entries.

Author names. Last name first, followed by initials. For two authors, separate with a comma and an ampersand (&).
Date. Year first, then month and day in parentheses. If no date is available, use (n.d.).
Title. Italicized. Written in sentence case. Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.
Site name. Not italicized. Followed by a period.
URL. No period at the end. A trailing period can break the link if a reader clicks or copies it.
Retrieval date. Not needed for most webpages. Only include one if the content changes often, such as a live database or a wiki.

How to Cite Different Types of Online Sources in APA Style

Academic Journal Articles

For academic journal articles, APA wants up to 20 authors listed. If there are more than 20, list the first 19, add an ellipsis, then add the final author's name. The format is:

Last Name, A. A., & Last Name, B. B. (Year). Title of the article in sentence case. Title of the Journal in Title Case, Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example:

Etton, K., & Sillfon, M. (2024). The association between variable X and variable Y. Nature Neuroscience, 11(4), 233–240. https://doi.org/10.1234/5555

Include the DOI as a full URL link where available (https://doi.org/xxxx). If no DOI exists, include the URL of the journal homepage. For a deeper guide, read our article on how to cite a journal article in APA and MLA.

Blog Posts

Blog posts use a format that's similar to a standard webpage. The key difference is the date. Blog posts need the month and day along with the year. The blog name is italicized in place of the site name.

Last Name, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the blog post in sentence case. Name of the Blog. URL

Example:

Etton, K. (2024, March 20). The association between variable X and variable Y in clinical populations. Nature Neuroscience Blog. https://www.natureneuroscience.blog/variable-x-variable-y

Online Lecture Material

For lecture slides, PowerPoint presentations, or other course materials online, include the type of material in square brackets after the title. The platform or institution that hosts the material acts as the publisher.

Last Name, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the lecture or presentation [Type of material]. Publisher or Institution. URL

Example:

Etton, K. (2024, March 20). The association between variable X and variable Y across clinical populations [PowerPoint slides]. GitHub. https://github.com/associationx

YouTube and Video Sources

For YouTube videos and other online video sources, the uploader's name (or username) appears as the author. The video title is italicized. Include the video type in square brackets and the platform as the site name.

Username [Channel Name]. (Year, Month Day). Title of the video [Video]. YouTube. URL

Social Media Posts

For a social media post, use the author's name and their handle. Include the first 20 words of the post in italics as the title. Include the platform as the site name. Note the type of post in brackets.

Last Name, A. [@handle]. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post as the title [Post]. Platform. URL

APA Site Reference: Quick Reference Summary

Source Type	In-Text Format	Reference List Format
Webpage (1 author)	Etton (2024) or (Etton, 2024)	Last Name, A. (Year, Month Day). Title. Site. URL
Webpage (2 authors)	Etton and Sillfon (2024) or (Etton & Sillfon, 2024)	Last Name, A., & Last Name, B. (Year, Month Day). Title. Site. URL
Webpage (3+ authors)	Etton et al. (2024) or (Etton et al., 2024)	List all authors up to 20. Last Name, A., Last Name, B., & Last Name, C. (Year). Title. Site. URL
Webpage (no author)	("Title of Page," Year) or Title of Page (Year)	Title of page. (Year, Month Day). Site. URL
Webpage (no date)	Etton (n.d.) or (Etton, n.d.)	Last Name, A. (n.d.). Title. Site. URL
Blog post	Etton (2024) or (Etton, 2024)	Last Name, A. (Year, Month Day). Title. Blog Name. URL
Online lecture slides	Etton (2024) or (Etton, 2024)	Last Name, A. (Year, Month Day). Title [PowerPoint slides]. Institution. URL
Journal article with DOI	Etton and Sillfon (2024) or (Etton & Sillfon, 2024)	Last Name, A., & Last Name, B. (Year). Title. Journal, Vol(Issue), pp. https://doi.org/xxxx
YouTube video	Channel Name (2024) or (Channel Name, 2024)	Username [Channel]. (Year, Month Day). Title [Video]. YouTube. URL
Social media post	Etton (2024) or (Etton, 2024)	Last Name, A. [@handle]. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words [Post]. Platform. URL

Common APA Site Reference Mistakes to Avoid

Using the wrong case for titles. Webpage and article titles in APA reference lists use sentence case, not title case. Only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns are capitalized. Journal titles use title case.
Italicizing the wrong element. In a webpage citation, the page title is italicized. In a blog post citation, the blog name is italicized. In a journal article citation, the journal title and volume number are italicized. The article title is not.
Skipping the date on blog posts and lecture materials. Standard webpages may have only a year. But blog posts and lecture materials need the full date including month and day where available.
Adding a period after the URL. URLs in APA reference list entries don't end with a period. A trailing period can break the link if a reader copies it.
Including a retrieval date when it's not needed. Retrieval dates are only needed when the content of the page is likely to change, such as a wiki or live dataset. Standard webpages and blog posts don't need one.
Using "et al." in the reference list when you shouldn't. "Et al." is for in-text citations with three or more authors. In the reference list, you must list all authors up to 20. Only use et al. in the reference list if there are more than 20 authors.
Trusting an APA citation generator without checking. Generators often miss publishers, mis-capitalize titles, or use outdated DOI formats. Always check the output against current APA rules before submission.

Should You Use an APA Citation Generator?

An APA citation generator is a tool that builds reference list entries from a URL or DOI. The most widely used are Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, BibMe, and Scribbr's free APA citation generator. These tools save time when you have many sources. They can be especially useful for long literature reviews and dissertations.

But an APA citation generator should be a starting point, not a final product. Output from these tools often contains errors.

Missing or wrong publisher. Generators often grab the wrong site name from a webpage's metadata. Always check that the site name matches the actual publisher.
Title case errors. Many tools default to title case for article titles. APA wants sentence case for article and webpage titles.
Outdated DOI format. Some generators still output "doi:10.xxxx" format. APA 7 wants the full URL: "https://doi.org/10.xxxx".
Missing or wrong dates. Generators sometimes pull a "last modified" date instead of the actual publication date.
Missing brackets for non-text sources. Videos, podcasts, datasets, and other non-text sources need a bracketed source type. Generators often leave these out.

The safest workflow is to use an APA citation generator to build a draft entry, then check every field against the rules in this guide. This is also a good place for a professional editor to add value. An editor catches the small errors that generators miss.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you cite a website in APA style?

A website citation in APA style has two parts. The in-text citation gives the author and year in parentheses, like (Etton, 2024). The reference list entry has the full info. Use this format: Author Last, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage in sentence case. Site Name. URL. Italicize the webpage title. Write it in sentence case. Don't put a period after the URL.

What if a website has no author or no date?

If there's no author, use a shortened version of the page title in place of the author name. Put the title in quotation marks for a webpage. Italicize it for a standalone document. If there's no date, use "n.d." (which means "no date") instead of the year. Both rules apply in both in-text citations and reference list entries.

Do you need a retrieval date for a website in APA?

No, for most websites. APA 7 only requires a retrieval date when the content of the page is likely to change over time. Examples include live databases, wikis, and pages that get updated often. For a standard webpage, blog post, or news article, no retrieval date is needed. The format when one is needed is: "Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL."

Is an APA citation generator reliable?

An APA citation generator can save time but should be used as a starting point, not a final draft. Common errors include wrong site names, title case used instead of sentence case, outdated DOI formats, and missing dates. Tools like Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, and Scribbr's free APA citation generator are widely used, but you should check every field against current APA rules before submitting your paper.

How do I cite a YouTube video in APA?

For a YouTube video, the uploader's name or username appears as the author. The format is: Username [Channel Name]. (Year, Month Day). Title of the video [Video]. YouTube. URL. Italicize the video title. Note the source type in brackets. List YouTube as the site name.

How do I cite a social media post in APA?

For a social media post, use the author's name and their handle in brackets. Include the first 20 words of the post as the title, italicized. Note the platform as the site name. The format is: Last Name, A. [@handle]. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post [Post]. Platform. URL.

What's the difference between an APA website citation and an APA journal citation?

Both follow APA's basic author-date format. The differences are in what fields appear. A website citation italicizes the webpage title and lists the site name as the publisher. A journal citation italicizes the journal title and volume number, not the article title. A journal citation also includes the issue number and page range. Both should include a DOI or URL where available.

When do I use "et al." in APA?

Use "et al." for in-text citations with three or more authors. Apply it from the first citation in APA 7th edition. APA 6th edition required listing all authors on the first mention; that rule was dropped. In the reference list, list all authors up to 20. Only use "et al." in the reference list when there are more than 20 authors.

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