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APA Blog Post Citation: Your Exhaustive Guide
Academic Writing
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APA Blog Post Citation: Your Exhaustive Guide

Discover how to create APA blog post citations in our exhaustive guide. We’ll break down the citation structure, illustrate best practices with examples, and help you avoid common mistakes.
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Published on
Mar 28, 2025
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Do I have to cite sources in a blog post? The answer is a resounding “yes.” A clear list of sources, complete with in-text citations, is crucial for establishing credibility with your readers and ensuring your claims are accurate. It’s also a way to give credit to other authors whose work you relied on in writing your piece.
The APA style is a popular choice for citing sources in a consistent format. Below, you’ll find an exhaustive guide to APA blog post citations, including:
  • Reasons to cite sources in blog posts;
  • Key elements of an APA citation;
  • How to add a source as an in-text citation and a reference list entry;
  • APA blog post citation examples;
  • Common mistakes to avoid.
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5 Reasons to Cite Blog Posts

“But do I have to cite sources in a blog post?” Well, there’s no source police: no one will proactively force you to cite sources. However, much like any academic paper, a blog post with numerous citations is automatically perceived as more credible and authoritative than one without any sources at all.
Here’s why you should cite blog posts:
  • Avoiding plagiarism: You’ll avoid accusations of using the work of others without giving them credit.
  • Acknowledging others’ work: Giving other authors credit will help you avoid tension or damage to your reputation – and it’s a default expectation among internet users.
  • Boosting credibility: Backing up your claims with sources will make your content more trustworthy in the readers’ eyes.
  • Improving SEO: Citations with outbound links will help your content rank higher in search results.
  • Maintaining transparency and accountability: Citations show that you’ve done your homework and help you build a reputation as a reliable source of information.
  • Stuck researching your next blog post? Our StudyPro academic AI tool can generate a well-researched piece in seconds.

APA Blog Post Citation: 5 Key Elements

In this guide, we’ll focus on citing blog posts using the latest version of the American Psychological Association (APA) style, the 7th edition. The style differentiates between in-text citations and reference list entries, with each having specific rules for formatting and structure.
First, let’s break down how to cite a blog post APA style in the reference list. The citation consists of five elements:
  • Author name;
  • Blog post date;
  • Title of the blog post;
  • Blog title/site name;
  • URL.
Here’s how they fit together:
Author Surname, Initial(s). (Publication Year, Month Day). Blog post title. Site Name. URL
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1. Author

Let’s start with the most straightforward case: your source has one author whose full name is displayed on the page. Then, you just need to add their surname, followed by a comma and initial(s):
  • Gemini, T.
  • Ronson, R. J.
  • Smith, D.
If the author is known only by their handle or profile name, use it instead of the author’s surname:
| blank ht. (2025, March 21). How to generate an AI video with no watermark for free. GeeksforGeeks. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/community/post/52126/how-to-generate-an-ai-video-with-no-watermark-for-free/
If the blog post has two authors, use an ampersand:
  • Gemini, T., & Smith, D.
  • Ronson, R. J., & Lumen, R.
If your source has three or more authors, list them using commas:
  • Gemini, T., Smith, D., Lumen, R.
  • Ronson, R. J., Torrin, E., Warren, T., Torro, Y.
Your source may also be penned by an organization. In this case, state the organization’s name instead of the author’s surname.
Some blog posts don’t name the author at all, be it because they were created with an AI writer or because the author wanted to remain anonymous. To create an APA citation for blog post with no author, move the blog post title to the beginning:
| New certifications coming in 2025. (2024, November 25). FreeCodeCamp. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/new-certifications-2025/

2. Date

As an APA citation blog post element, the publication date is added in parentheses, followed by a period in the Year, Month Date format: (2024, July 23).
You can usually find the date at the top of the blog post page, above or below the blog post title and next to the author’s name.
What if the publication date is nowhere to be found, though? In this case, replace it with “n.d.” after the author’s surname and initials: Kelly, T. (n.d.).
N.B. You’ll also need to replace the year in the blog post’s in-text citations with n.d. if you can’t find the publication date.

3. Title

The title of the blog post is, perhaps, the easiest to find: virtually any blog post has its main heading prominently featured at the top of the page. When you add a source to the reference list, its title has to use sentence case even if the original heading uses title case.
For example, Wired uses title case in its headings, but you’d be citing one of its posts using sentence case:
| Mullin, E., & Newman, L. H. (2025, March 24). How to delete your data from 23andMe. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-delete-your-data-from-23andme/
N.B. The blog post title shouldn’t be bolded or italicized.

4. Blog/Site Name

Next, add the site name after the title in your APA blog post citation. Unlike the blog post name, it should be italicized, following the same logic that periodical titles are subjected to.
For example:
| Thomson, J. (2022, September 8). Massive, strange white structures appear on Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/mysterious-mounds-great-salt-lake-utah-explained-mirabilite-1741151
Capitalize the blog name using title case.

5. URL

Finally, you have to add the full URL link to the blog post you’re citing. Copy it from the web browser’s URL bar, keeping the https:// at the beginning and the slash at the end.
For example:
| Carnes, B. (2025, March 20). Build a full-stack AI note-taking app with Next.js and Supabase. FreeCodeCamp. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-full-stack-ai-note-taking-app-with-nextjs-and-supabase/
N.B. Don’t add a period or any other punctuation mark after the URL.

How to Add In-Text Citations

There are two types of in-text citations you may need to use:
  • Parenthetical citations. In this case, you cite the reference in the format (Author Surname, Publication Year) in parentheses at the end of a sentence.
  • Narrative citations. If you mention the author in the sentence, add only the year in parentheses immediately after their surname.
For example:
  • Parenthetical: Social media apps like Sez Us disincentivize rage-baiting (Parham, 2025).
  • Narrative: Parham (2025) debates the effectiveness of punishment for inflammatory content on social media.
In case the author is an organization, use the organization’s name instead of the author’s surname. The same goes for cases where the author is known only by a screen name.
If the blog post you reference doesn’t have a publication date, use n.d. instead of the year, like this:
  • Parenthetical: (Row, n.d.)
  • Narrative: Row (n.d.) mentions...
If your blog post doesn’t have a clearly stated author, use its title in quotation marks and title case. Here’s an example for our metaphor examples blog post:
  • Parenthetical: (“What Is a Metaphor? Types & 10 Examples,” 2025)
  • Narrative: “What Is a Metaphor? Types & 10 Examples” (2025) mentions...

How to Add a Reference List

The reference section lists all the works you’ve cited in the text. The list, labeled “References,” is added to the end of your piece. The label should be centered and in bold. Add the list to a new page if you’re working on a file in a word processor.
The reference list is sorted alphabetically by the first letter of the author’s surname. Don’t use bulleted or numbered lists in the References. Remember to add a 0.5” hanging indent for all paragraph lines except the first one.
Here’s an example of a simple reference list:
  • blank ht. (2025, March 21). How to generate an AI video with no watermark for free. GeeksforGeeks. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/community/post/52126/how-to-generate-an-ai-video-with-no-watermark-for-free/
  • Carnes, B. (2025, March 20). Build a full-stack AI note-taking app with Next.js and Supabase. FreeCodeCamp. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-full-stack-ai-note-taking-app-with-nextjs-and-supabase/
  • Thomson, J. (2022, September 8). Massive, strange white structures appear on Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/mysterious-mounds-great-salt-lake-utah-explained-mirabilite-1741151

Need an APA Blog Post Citation Example?

Sometimes, a specific post example is worth a thousand words. Here’s a blog post APA citation example with a known author’s full name and publication date:
References:
Kelly, M. (2025, March 15). FTC removes posts critical of Amazon, Microsoft, and AI companies. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/federal-trade-commission-removed-blogs-critical-of-ai-amazon-microsoft/
In-text:
  • Parenthetical: FTC recently removed AI-related consumer protection information and information on landmark privacy lawsuits (Kelly, 2025).
  • Narrative: Kelly (2025) alleges the FTC recently removed certain content from its website to appease tech giants.
If the author is known only by a screen name:
References:
Toto (2025, March 12). Top 10 IPTV services in Sweden (2025). GeeksforGeeks. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/community/post/51846/top-10-iptv-services-in-sweden-2025-best-streaming-options-prices/
In-text:
  • Parenthetical: (Toto, 2025)
  • Narrative: Toto (2025) describes...
If there’s no date and no author:
References:
APA sample paper (n.d.). Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/researchandcitation/apastyle/apaformattingandstyleguide/apasample_paper.html/
In-text:
  • Parenthetical: (“APA Sample Paper”, n.d.)
  • Narrative: “APA Sample Paper” (n.d.) mentions...
If the blog post has a group author:
References:
FreeCodeCamp. (2024, November 25). New certifications coming in 2025. FreeCodeCamp. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/new-certifications-2025/
In-text:
  • Parenthetical: (FreeCodeCamp, 2024)
  • Narrative: FreeCodeCamp (2024) announced...

5 Pitfalls to Avoid

The APA style can be notoriously convoluted, especially if you’re not used to it. Here are five common mistakes you should keep in mind when creating your next APA citation blog post:
❌ Incorrect formatting. In the reference list, only the site name should be italicized.
❌ Missing elements. Even if the blog post doesn’t have a clearly stated author name or publication date, the APA style guide specifies what to do in each case.
❌ Adding the wrong URL. This can happen simply because you’re inattentive. Double-check all links!
❌ Adding the URL with unnecessary elements. Some URLs end with temporary strings of symbols that indicate, for example, which page you were redirected from. Delete those elements.
❌ Incorrect case. Use sentence case for the blog post title and title case for the site name in References. When you mention the blog post title in the text, use title case.
For example, the name of our blog post on the pros and cons of AI would be cited in References like this: 5 horror catastrophes and 5 futuristic aspirations of AI for humanity.

In Closing

To recap, here’s your template for citing blog posts using the APA format:
In the reference works list:
Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year, Month Date). Blog post title. Site name. URL
In in-text citations:
  • Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Year)
  • Narrative: Author Surname (Year)
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Frequently asked questions

The general format for adding a blog post as a reference list entry is as follows:
Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year, Month Date). Title of the blog post. Site Name. URL
For example:
Garrett, B. (2015, July 21). 10+ ways to enhance a sales presentation, according to experts. HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/anatomy-of-a-perfect-sales-presentation-infographic/
In-text citations are usually added in parentheses at the end of a sentence: (Author Surname, Year).
If you can’t find the publication date anywhere on the page, replace it with n.d. whenever you need to use the full date or only the year itself.
For example:
Reference list entry: Row, G. (n.d.) Enterprise data modeling. LeanIX. https://www.leanix.net/en/wiki/it-architecture/enterprise-data-model/
  • In-text parenthetical citation: (Row, n.d.)
  • In-text narrative citation: Row (n.d.) describes...
You can add an in-text citation in one of two ways:
  • Parenthetical citation: Add the author’s surname or its substitute (screen name, organization name, or the title of the blog post) and the publication year in parentheses at the end of the sentence before the period. Example: (Tanty, 2023).
  • Narrative citation: If you mention the author’s surname or its substitute in the text, add the year in parentheses after it. Example: Row (2024) states...
Sources:
  • Research Guides: APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Blog post. (n.d.). https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA/blogpost
  • American Psychological Association, & Giuliano, T. (2022). Creating an APA style reference list guide. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/creating-reference-list.pdf
  • When and why to cite sources. (n.d.). University Libraries. https://library.albany.edu/infolit/resource/cite-sources
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