Spelling Tips: Website or Web Site?

Do you visit a ‘website’ or a ‘web site’? And should these terms be capitalised? To find out which spelling to use and ensure your own website is error-free, read on.

What Do These Words Mean?

‘Website’ and ‘web site’ are synonyms (i.e. words that are spelled differently but mean the same thing). Both refer to a page or set of pages on the internet:

How many websites have you visited?

How many web sites have you visited?

The only difference, then, is whether you write this term as one word or two. Both forms are accepted, but ‘website’ has become much more common, as you can see on Google’s Ngram Viewer. This follows the pattern of new words that are initially written as two terms but eventually become a closed compound.

If in doubt, then, we suggest sticking to ‘website’ as the more common form. However, the most important thing is using one form consistently in your writing, as switching between them could be distracting for readers.

Capitalising Website and Web Site

You may see both versions of this term written with a capital ‘W’. This is because the ‘Web’ in this term comes from the proper noun ‘World Wide Web’.

It is especially common to capitalise ‘Web’ in the two-word version of this term, while the one-word version is almost always written with a lowercase ‘w’:

I launched a new Web site the other day.

I launched a new website the other day.

Generally, we suggest sticking to these forms of capitalisation as they are the most widely used. However, ‘web site’ and ‘Website’ are also used sometimes. As above, then, the most important thing is sticking to a single capitalisation style.

What Do the Style Guides Say?

The following academic style guides recommend the use of the one-word, non-capitalised ‘website’: 

• The Chicago Manual of Style 
• The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 
• The Modern Humanities Research Association Style Guide
• The American Medical Association Manual of Style

Out of all the major academic style guides, The Modern Language Association Handbook is the only one that favours the two-word form with a capital ‘W’, ‘Web site’.

The major legal styles, such as OSCOLA, Bluebook, ALWD and AGLC all prefer ‘website’. Similarly, journalistic style guides such as The AP Stylebook, the ABC Style Guide and the BBC News Style Guide also favour ‘website’.

You should check which version your style guide prefers when you use the term in your writing. If you are not using a style guide, then choosing between ‘website’, ‘web site’, ‘Web site’ or ‘Website’ is a matter of preference. However, it is worth remembering that ‘website’ is still by far the most common form in modern English.

Summary: Website or Web Site?

Both ‘website’ and ‘web site’ refer to a collection of pages on the internet. However, there are multiple ways to write this word, so make sure to consider:

• One word or two? – The most common form of this word in modern English is ‘website’ (one word). However, the older two-word form ‘web site’ is also acceptable (and favoured in some style guides, such as in the MLA Handbook).
• Should it be capitalised? – Since the ‘web’ in this word comes from ‘World Wide Web’, some people capitalise it (especially in the two-word form ‘Web site’). However, the single word form ‘website’ is rarely capitalised.

We hope this post has helped you to decide which spelling of ‘website’ you should use (or at least understand why there are two forms to choose from!). If it was useful to you, you may want to check out our post about the capitalization of the word “Internet”! And if you’d like more help with your writing, why not upload a 500-word document and try our services for free?