Citing a website in an essay can be done in a few different ways. Depending on the formatting style that you are using, you may use the websites author or title to cite the source in the text of your essay. For example, if you were writing an essay in MLA format, you would use the authors last name, followed by the page number, within parenthesis in the text of your essay. If you are citing a direct quote from the website, you would also include the year of publication in parenthesis, for example (Smith 2018).
Another way to cite a website in an essay is to include a reference page at the end of your essay. The reference page should list all sources used for citations within the essay. Generally, this page should be titled Works Cited and should be placed at the end of the essay. The reference page should list each website used with its associated information. This typically includes the website title, author, publisher, and date of publication. For example, if you were citing a website published by an organization, it would look like: Organization Name. (Year Published). Title of Webpage. Retrieved Month, Day, Year from URL.
Finally, if you are using an online source such as an article published on a website, it is important to include a link to the source in your essay. This can be done either directly after the source is cited in your essay or on the reference page. For example, if you are citing an online journal article, it would look like: Author Last Name, Author First Name. Article Title. Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, URL.
No matter which style guide you are using to format your essay, it is important to cite any website used within the text. Doing so not only helps to protect against plagiarism but also allows others to easily validate your sources if needed. When citing websites, remember to follow the formatting guidelines of your style guide and include all necessary information in either the text of your essay or on the reference page.
