How to Cite a Website in Chicago
Chicago style handles websites two ways: notes-bibliography (footnotes plus a bibliography) or author-date (parenthetical citations plus a reference list). Pick whichever your instructor requires, then include the author, page title, site or sponsor name, publication or revision date, and URL.
The five parts you always need
Every Chicago website citation is built from the same pieces:
- Author. A person's name if the page has one. If not, the organization takes the author slot. If neither exists, start with the page title.
- Page title. In quotation marks. Capitalize the main words (headline-style).
- Website name. Italicized. Sometimes this is also the publisher.
- Publication or revision date. Use the most specific date on the page. If nothing is dated, use an access date instead.
- URL. The full link, no shortener.
That's it. Chicago 17 dropped the requirement to include an access date for every online source. You only need one when the page has no publication or revision date.
Notes and bibliography style
This is the version most humanities classes want. History, art history, philosophy, religion, and literature departments usually pick this system.
First footnote
Use a superscript number in your prose, then put the note at the bottom of the page:
- Jane Doe, "How Compost Bins Work," Sustainable Living Institute, March 14, 2024, https://example.org/compost-bins.
Author's name in normal order. Comma after the page title (inside the quotes). Italicized site name. Date. URL. Period at the end.
Shortened note (second and later citations)
After the first full note, shorten it:
- Doe, "How Compost Bins Work."
Bibliography entry
Same information, but the author's last name goes first and you use periods instead of commas as the main separator:
Doe, Jane. "How Compost Bins Work." Sustainable Living Institute. March 14, 2024. https://example.org/compost-bins.
Author-date style
This is what social science courses often use. Same source data, different arrangement.
In-text citation
(Doe 2024)
If you're quoting a specific passage and the page has visible section headings or paragraph numbers, you can add them: (Doe 2024, para. 7).
Reference list entry
Doe, Jane. 2024. "How Compost Bins Work." Sustainable Living Institute. March 14, 2024. https://example.org/compost-bins.
Year right after the author, then the full date later in the entry. Yes, the year appears twice. That's normal for author-date.
Common edge cases
No author listed
Move the organization into the author position. If the site name and the sponsoring organization are the same, you only need to list it once.
Sustainable Living Institute. "How Compost Bins Work." March 14, 2024. https://example.org/compost-bins.
No date at all
Add an access date after the URL:
Sustainable Living Institute. "How Compost Bins Work." Accessed August 28, 2026. https://example.org/compost-bins.
Use "n.d." (no date) inside author-date parentheticals when the year is missing: (Doe, n.d.).
Blog posts
Treat the blog like a website. Italicize the blog's name. If the blog is part of a larger publication (like a newspaper's opinion blog), add the parent publication after the blog name.
Social media posts
Use the account handle if there's no real name, quote up to the first 160 characters of the post as the title, name the platform, give the exact timestamp, then the URL.
Things students get wrong
- Don't italicize the page title. Only the site name gets italics. The page title goes in quotes.
- Don't capitalize prepositions and articles under four letters in headline-style titles (of, in, the, a, an), unless they start the title.
- URLs go bare. No "Retrieved from," no angle brackets, no hyperlink formatting required.
- Access dates aren't automatic. Only add one if no publication or revision date exists.
- Two dates isn't a bug. Author-date really does list the year twice. Keep both.
Quick worked example
You're citing a CDC page updated April 2, 2024, called "Handwashing: A Family Activity," found at cdc.gov/handwashing/family.
Notes-bibliography footnote:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Handwashing: A Family Activity," April 2, 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/family.
Author-date reference list:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2024. "Handwashing: A Family Activity." April 2, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/family.
In-text: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2024). After the first mention you can switch to (CDC 2024) if you note the abbreviation up front.