MLA Work Cited Page Example for Websites | Clear Rules

If you write essays that rely on online articles, blogs, or digital textbooks, your teacher will expect a clean MLA work cited page for websites. That page is more than a formality. It shows where your information came from and helps anyone who reads your work retrace each source with ease.

This guide walks through the layout of a works cited page, the core elements for website entries, and several side-by-side models. By the end, you will have a clear mla work cited page example for websites you can mirror in your own assignments, plus templates you can adapt in a few minutes.

Mla Work Cited Page Example For Websites: Core Template

MLA uses the label Works Cited (with an “s”) at the top of the final page of your paper. Under that heading, every source you quote, paraphrase, or summarize appears as a separate entry. When the source is a website, the entry still follows the same MLA “core elements” template: author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, and location (the URL).

Here is a quick view of those core pieces and how they usually look for a web page used in a works cited list.

Core Element	What It Usually Looks Like For A Website	Short Example Snippet
Author	Person or group responsible for the page content	Hamilton, Jon.
Title Of Source	Title of the specific web page or article in quotation marks	“Think You’re Multitasking? Think Again.”
Title Of Container	Name of the overall website in italics	National Public Radio
Publisher	Organization that runs or owns the site, if it differs from the site name	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Publication Date	Day, abbreviated month, and year of the web page	2 Oct. 2008
Location	URL without the “https://” or “http://” prefix	www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794
Access Date (Optional)	Date you last viewed the page, used when no publication date appears or content changes often	Accessed 6 July 2016.

Every website source will not use every element. You simply move through the template in order and include the parts that match your source. The MLA Style Center works cited quick guide shows this same pattern across many source types, not just websites.

Basic Mla Website Citation Format In A Works Cited List

A standard MLA works cited entry for a web page with an individual author usually follows this order:

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Web Page.” Title of Website, Publisher, Day Mon. Year, URL.

The punctuation marks and italics are not decoration. Each comma, period, and style choice signals where one core element ends and the next begins. That way, anyone trained in MLA can scan your entry and spot the author, title, site name, and link at a glance.

Example: Web Page With An Individual Author

Here is a concrete mla work cited page example for websites when you have a named author, a clear article title, and a publication date:

Hamilton, Jon. "Think You're Multitasking? Think Again." National Public Radio,
  2 Oct. 2008, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794.
  

Notice a few details:

• The author’s last name appears first, followed by a comma and the first name.
• The article title sits in quotation marks with title case capitalization.
• The website name appears in italics, while the publisher is left in regular type if it differs from the site title.
• The date uses the day, a three-letter month abbreviation, then the year.
• The URL does not need “https://.”

Example: Web Page With No Named Author

Sometimes a site uses only a brand or organization name at the top of a page, or there is no author credit at all. In that case, the entry begins with the page title instead of a person’s name. A typical pattern looks like this:

“Title of Web Page.” Title of Website, Publisher, Day Mon. Year, URL.

When you cite that source inside your essay, you use a shortened version of the page title in the in-text citation.

Taking A Work Cited Page Example For Website Sources Step By Step

A strong MLA work cited page for websites comes together in two layers: first the layout of the page itself, then the details of each entry. Building the page in a steady sequence saves time and cuts formatting mistakes.

Step 1: Set Up The Works Cited Page

Start on a new page at the end of your paper. Center the heading Works Cited one inch from the top margin. Use the same font and line spacing as the rest of your essay. Each entry should use a hanging indent: the first line starts at the left margin, and the next lines in that entry are indented half an inch.

Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the first element in each line. That is usually the author’s last name. When the entry begins with a title instead, alphabetize by the first meaningful word in that title.

Step 2: Collect Details From Each Website

Before you even touch your works cited page, gather details from every website you plan to cite. From each web page, write down:

• Author name or group name
• Exact page title
• Overall website name
• Publisher, if it differs from the site name
• Publication or last updated date
• Full URL

Many university libraries, such as the University of Nevada, Reno MLA website citation guide, show where to locate these details on a typical site.

Step 3: Plug Details Into The MLA Template

Once you have the raw information, plug it into the MLA pattern shown earlier. Move through the elements in order and skip anything that does not match your source. Pay attention to the punctuation. Periods separate the biggest parts (author, title, container), while commas mark smaller pieces inside those parts.

After you finish, read each entry once more from left to right. Check that titles use title case, dates use the correct order, and URLs do not include stray spaces.

Sample Mla Works Cited Entries For Common Website Cases

The best way to see how the rules play out is to look at several short examples. Each one below matches a common pattern that shows up in student writing. Use them as models when you prepare your own mla work cited page example for websites.

Case 1: News Article On A Website

Smith, Helena. "The Women Who Brought Down Greece's Golden Dawn."
  The Guardian, 22 Oct. 2020, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/
  the-women-who-brought-down-greeces-golden-dawn.
  

Here you can see an individual author, an article title, a news site container, and a clear date. Many online news pieces follow this same shape.

Case 2: Article On A Health Website With An Organization As Author

World Health Organization. "Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard."
  World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/emergencies/disease/
  novel-coronavirus-2019.
  

The organization name appears in the author slot, then again as the website container. MLA allows that repetition when the group both writes and hosts the content.

Case 3: Page On A Site With No Date

"Citing Sources and Referencing." Scribbr, www.scribbr.com/category/
  citing-sources. Accessed 16 July 2019.
  

When you cannot find a publication date after a careful check, you can leave it out and end the entry with an access date instead. That date tells your reader when you last viewed the material.

Table Of Website Citation Patterns You Can Reuse

Once you notice how flexible the core template is, it helps to keep a small table of patterns nearby. The next table groups several common website situations with matching MLA templates and quick examples you can adapt.

Website Scenario	Works Cited Template	Short Example
Web Page With Author	Author Last Name, First Name. “Page Title.” Website Name, Publisher, Day Mon. Year, URL.	Hamilton, Jon. “Think You’re Multitasking? Think Again.” National Public Radio, 2 Oct. 2008, www.npr.org/…
Web Page Without Author	“Page Title.” Website Name, Publisher, Day Mon. Year, URL.	“Citing Sources and Referencing.” Scribbr, www.scribbr.com/…. Accessed 16 July 2019.
Whole Website	Website Name. Publisher, Year, URL.	Scribbr. Scribbr, www.scribbr.com. Accessed 11 July 2019.
Organization As Author	Organization Name. “Page Title.” Website Name, Year, URL.	World Health Organization. “Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard.” World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/….
Online Article In A Database	Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. number, no. number, Year, pages. Database Name, DOI or URL.	Chen, Wei, and Ravi Patel. “Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.” Journal of Medical Research, vol. 10, no. 2, 2019, pp. 112-125. ProQuest, doi:10.1234/jmr.2019.0001.
Online Book On A Website	Author Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Publisher, Year. Website Name, URL.	Doe, John. Introduction to Psychology. Pearson, 2018. OpenStax, openstax.org/details/books/introduction-psychology.
Blog Post	Author Last Name, First Name. “Post Title.” Blog Name, Day Mon. Year, URL.	Yu, Kaila. “Post Title.” Blog Name, 14 May 2023, blogsite.com/post-title.

When you face a new source type, match it to the nearest row in this table. Then adjust pieces such as the container title or the presence of a publisher line.

Frequent Mistakes With Mla Website Citations

Even careful writers slip on small details in MLA website entries. Watching for a few recurring problems will keep your mla work cited page example for websites in good shape.

Mixing Up Website Name And Publisher

Many sites list the same organization as both the site name and the publisher. When that happens, MLA style says you can leave the publisher line out to avoid clutter.

If a site lists a separate sponsor or parent group in the footer, that group usually belongs in the publisher position. Reading the masthead or “About” page often clears this up.

Forgetting Hanging Indents Or Alphabetical Order

Teachers notice layout gaps quickly. A page title that is not centered, entries that do not line up with hanging indents, or a list that is not in alphabetical order can look rushed, even when your research is solid.

To avoid this, set the hanging indent once in your word processor and apply that style to the whole works cited page. Then sort the list alphabetically before you print or export your file.

Using Full URLs With Long Tracking Strings

Some links copy over with tracking codes or very long query strings. MLA permits trimming those extras as long as the link still points to the correct page. You can usually delete everything after a question mark or a long series of random letters, then test the link in your browser.

Leaving Out Access Dates When They Help

Access dates are optional, yet they make sense for pages that change often or lack a clear publication date. If your teacher or discipline likes to show how current your research is, add access dates for more of your web sources, not just the ones with no date listed.

Quick Checklist For Your Mla Work Cited Page Example For Websites

Before you hand in your paper, scan through this short checklist. It helps you confirm that your works cited page treats website sources in a clear and consistent way.

Layout And Label

• The final page carries the heading Works Cited, centered at the top.
• Font, size, and line spacing match the rest of the essay.
• Each entry uses a hanging indent.
• Entries appear in alphabetical order by author or by title when there is no author.

Website Entry Details

• Every website source in the body of your essay has a matching entry on the works cited page.
• Each entry follows the MLA core elements pattern as closely as the source allows.
• Article or page titles appear in quotation marks with title case capitalization.
• Website names appear in italics.
• Dates use the day, abbreviated month, and year format.
• URLs are clean, readable, and do not include the protocol prefix.

Consistency Across Entries

• Similar website sources follow the same template from one entry to the next.
• Spacing after periods and commas stays consistent.
• Any access dates follow the “Accessed Day Mon. Year” pattern.

When you follow this checklist and model your entries on solid examples, your works cited page will match current MLA expectations. Your readers will be able to trace every website source with ease, and you can spend your energy on the argument and structure of your writing rather than last-minute citation fixes.