How to Find Out Who Made a Website

While many websites list their creators, designers and owners directly, others contain anonymous writing or have authors listed by pseudonyms. This makes it harder to accurately cite a Web page, figure out if an author has expertise on the topic at hand or contact a designer to build a site for you. Even when you can't find this information on the page itself, it might lie hidden in the site's code or be available in a database online.

Some sites, such as many blogs and news sources, provide bylines at the top of every article. Less formal sites and those written by a single author may skip this credit, but still claim ownership of the content elsewhere. Scroll to the very bottom of a page and check whether the site has a copyright listed, which might provide the owner's name or a designer's credit. If not, look for a link to an "About" page. Some sites also mention ownership in a "Terms of Service" page, often linked at the bottom of a site.

You can view the source code of any website by pressing "Control-U" in most major Web browsers. Sometimes a Web designer will include his name and copyright in the code in a comment, which prevents it from appearing on the actual page. In HTML, comment lines start with "<!--" without the quotation marks. Some sites also use an "author" tag to include a writer's name in a way that search engines recognize. Press "Control-F" to search the source code and search for "author."

When an owner registers a website, ownership information enters a public database that you can search from a WHOIS lookup site. Many such sites exist, but all should give the same result. This method may not provide useful information, however, as the site might be registered in a corporation's name or by an intermediary. Site owners can also use services such as WhoisGuard to block WHOIS queries in order to stay anonymous.

If you can't find a name, you can try asking the owner directly. Check on the site for a "Contact" link, which may provide an email address or a contact form. WHOIS information also provides a contact email. Even in cases where you can't learn an owner's actual name from the WHOIS search, emails sent to the contact address will reach the site's owner or designer.