If you’re in the same field as me, or interested in becoming an Internet Entrepreneur, then there is a very high probability that you type the word web site Web site website Website daily. But do you spell it correctly?
After meeting with the Small Business Development Center at my alma mater (more on that later), I was advised on several ways to bulletproof my business plan for the newly formed Schultz Media Network, LLC. While rewriting a section, I noticed that I used the word, Website, about a million times, but I wasn’t even sure if I was spelling it right. Eager for a break, and wanting to get to the bottom of it, I decided to do some digging.
Dictionary.com stated that the uncapitalized word, website, is gaining ground just as email is over the once commonly used E-mail: The transition from World Wide Web site to Web site to website as a single uncapitalized word mirrors the development of other technological expressions which have tended to take unhyphenated forms as they become more familiar. Thus email is gaining ground over the forms E-mail and e-mail, especially in texts that are more technologically oriented. Similarly, there is an increasing preference for closed forms like homepage, online, and printout.
Merriam-Webster prefers Web site but doesn’t give any explanation why.
Webmater Techniques believes that the correct usage is Website stating that “Website is not a compound noun…” Because it is a proper noun, it would be one word with a capital “W”.
Lastly, the frequent one-stop shop for all answers on the Internet, Wikipedia had no clear answer either, citing several sources that all have officially adopted different spellings.
Do whatever you want! There was no strong consensus for any of them. How do you spell it?
I go through this all the time myself. It mostly depends on who my audience is. For a tech savvy audience, I’ll use website. For non-tech people, I use Web Site.
I’m not exactly sure why I do it this way, but that’s the strategy I’ve adopted.
How about Web-Sight ;-) ? I say we run on the side of innovation and break away from the shackles of common word affiliation!!!
Let me use good old object-oriented approach to explain what I use. ;-)
I personally use “web site”. The words “web” nor “web site” are certainly not a proper noun as it has been widely accepted for non-specific instances. The similar happened to “internet”.
Whether to write the two together or not – there isn’t any consensus and probably we will not see it soon (if ever). It’s too spread to tell and language is a flexible concept adapting to its use in practice. Personally, I do not write “web” and “site” together because of flexibility. I mean, “web site” is a special case of a “site”. There is also a FTP site. I think the word “site” has been added as a convenience alias for non-technical crowd.
Cheers
Shonzilla
If you’re a journalist, the AP (Associated Press) style is officially Web site. Capital W! Lowercase s!
I usually use website, I don’t know why though.
MS Word spell checker is both fine with “website” and “web site” too
I have to agree with Derek. Can’t go wrong with AP. “Web site” is the proper spelling with the ‘W’ being capitalized. Use this spelling and others will question themselves. ;)
I am a journalist so naturally refer to AP for much of my writing. But I do want to point out that AP is a preferred set of style guidelines adopted by a media-oriented organization and should not be relied on as a scholarly reference manual.
The world is becoming dehyphenated even as we speak (err, comment). . “Meta data” has become “metadata” (but “meta tags” is still two separate words), and I see far more newer instances of “email” than “E-mail.” I like to think of myself as a visionary webber so hyphens be darned! I will continue to use “website” with wild abandoned until the hyphen police hunt me down and haul me off to style court.
I wonder where all the hyphens will go, poor little things. Maybe we should start a “nonprofit” for wordless hyphens.
Thank you for letting me contribute to this savvy, keyword rich article.
The correct spelling is Web site.
Journalist too. We use “web site”, because of our style sheet (the “w” is not capitalized). However, for technically proficient readers, “website” is a better option when considering how smoothly the text scans.
I like “website”. It just looks right.
Why would one use an upper case W? “Web” is not a proper noun.
Web is a proper noun, just as the Internet. Web is short for the World Wide Web. As the term becomes so common place, it looses its connection as a proper noun. The Internet is an internet (a network of networks), but is always referred to as a proper noun with upper case. The same applys to the Web when used as a single proper noun.
LOOK on this site :)
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>Website< :)
* If internet GIANT like Google uses website as one word I will use one word too :)
How did I end up here? A PR person and I disagreed over proper usage. I used “Website” and the PR person used “Web site”. Remember that the Web portion is simply shorthand for World Wide Web (WWW) and site is simply a noun. It makes sense to me to capitalize the W and I think it looks better, and saves a space, as one word. It boils down to personal preference because, whether you write Web site, web site, Website site or website, we all know what you mean.
Just to add more fuel to the fire, I found the following from AskOxford.com (http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/usage/website?view=uk):
It always takes a little time for new words to settle to a standardized form. Our most recent dictionary, the revised 11th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, published in July 2004, shows website as the standard form, and future dictionaries will reflect this.
I have not checked any other dictionaries, but if the standard is going to become or already is website, then why should the AP be correct?
I’m a graphic designer and I do a lot of typesetting for books, magazine articles, publications and …Web sites ;) I hate the spelling Web site, like this but it’s the proper way to use it. Janet (from a previous post) brought up the point that web wasn’t a proper noun. Normally, if you’re talking about a spider web or a web of lies, she’d be right, but in this case, it actually is a proper noun. The reason why is that it’s referring to a thing – the World Wide Web. Since it’s an abbreviated version of the WWW, you have to use it as a proper noun. Therefore, Web site is correct.
That said, I actually use website for everything unless one of my clients corrects me on it because, frankly, it looks silly capitalized.
I like LAWolfe’s perspective. As both a columnist who is required to use the AP style and as a technical writer I favor the technical usage of the word. However, I find myself chatised by my editor (at the paper I write for) constantly. The reason being is he wants me to use “Web” capitalized like Web page or Web design. I prefer to use the word website, webpage, or web design. I believe this is the proper usage and we argue all the time. But, since he signs my checks I do it his way. I just wonder when the AP will catch up to the rest of the world?
I think there is a difference between web and print.’
For web, you’d want to optimize for search engines, thus the search engine usage, or how they look at the word would matter. In Google’s case – website.
For print, you’d want to follow print guidelines. For many AP is the authority on print. They say Web site.
It’s important to note, however, that neither is the style or spelling authority for words.
Let’s not forget what grammar girl has to say (which merely muddies the waters):
“Most language experts believe the Internet is one big specific place that people visit, so Internet is capitalized, as is Web because it is just a shorthand name for the Internet. On the other hand, the Web is populated by many different websites, so website is not capitalized. Internet and Web are proper nouns because they refer to something specific, whereas website is a common noun that can be used to refer to many different places on the Internet. Some people disagree that the Internet is one specific place, and I’m curious what you all think, so I’ve put a poll in the transcript at the website, which is quickanddirtytips.com.”
Being a technical writer, I follow Microsoft Manual of Style and Chicago Manual of Style: Web site.
I use website because the major search engines always try to change web site to website. More hits for me. lol.