How to Format a Website Footnote

Citing sources in a professional document, such as a business plan or proposal, is critical to supporting your original concepts and establishing credibility among readers such as co-workers or future clients. When citing a website in Modern Language Association (MLA) or University of Chicago style, the footnote information is placed at the bottom of the page. The footnote format, however, differs for MLA and Chicago style. In addition, the format may vary depending on whether you are citing an article on a Web page or an entire website.

Citing a Website in Footnotes

Whether you're preparing a business proposal or a paper your company intends to submit to a formal publication like a scientific or business journal, you're likely to rely in part on some data from the Internet. After all, the web provides easy access to the latest versions of everything from corporate data to published research and opinions.

If you're going to cite a website in a formal document, you'll likely want to add a footnote with a reference to the website so others know where you got your data and can investigate it for themselves. Check what footnote format your publishers want or what your company's house style looks like. Some common formats you may be asked to use are MLA format and the Chicago Manual of Style format.

Note that the rules for a footnote are often different for those for a bibliography listing sources at the end of a book or document.

Using MLA Footnote Format

  1. Write the Author's Name

  2. Type the author’s name, if available. List the author’s last name first, insert a comma, then enter the first name. Put a period after the author’s name.

  3. Add the Web Page Name

  4. Enter the name of the Web page or article in quotation marks, ending with a period within the quotes.

  5. Add the Overall Website Name

  6. Enter the name of the overall website in italics. Place a comma after the name of the website or Web page in italics.

  7. Enter the Publication Date

  8. If you know the publication date, add it in day-month-year format (such as 12 Jan. 2019), followed by a comma. If you don't know the publication date, skip this step.

  9. Add the Website URL

  10. Type the URL of the website, leaving out the initial "http" or "https." For example, type www.example.com/index.html, followed by a period.

  11. Add the Access Date

  12. If you don't know the publication date, enter the date you accessed the website preceded by the word "Accessed". This is the last piece of information included in a website citation. List the date of access in the day-month-year format.

  13. Here's a footnote example for a complete Web citation:

  14. Wiener-Bronner, Danielle. "Coke launches new flavor to keep customers from leaving it behind." CNN, 8 Feb. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/business/coca-cola-new-flavor/index.html.

Using Chicago Style

  1. Enter the Author's Name

  2. Enter the author’s first name, followed by a space and then the last name, then a comma. If the website does not provide the author’s name, skip to Step 2.

  3. Add the Web Page's Title

  4. Enter the title of the web page, followed by a comma. Place the title of the Web page in quotation marks.

  5. Add Website or Organization Name

  6. Enter the organization’s name or the name of the website, followed by a comma.

  7. Record the Publication's Date

  8. Enter the date the Web page was published, followed by a comma. List the date in the month day, year format, such as "August 1, 2018." If you know the page was modified over time, enter the last date of modification. Enter the date when you accessed the Web page if the date of publication and modification is unknown.

  9. Add the Web Address

  10. Type the complete URL of the website you are referencing. Include the “http://” prefix at the beginning of the URL citation. Insert a period at the end of the website address. Here's an example of a complete website citation:

  11. Danielle Wiener-Bronner, "Coke launches new flavor to keep customers from leaving it behind," CNN, February 8, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/business/coca-cola-new-flavor/index.html.
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