I’m writing some copy for an ad I will be running. I have always written website as one word, but I see others write it as two words.
So, which is it???
Web-site
I’ve always used ‘web site’ out of preference, but on my site I use both - but only one version per page. And that’s purely for SEO purposes, as (for example) people tend to search for both ‘web site designers’ and ‘website designers’
If it’s for print, go with whatever looks better on the page, in the context of the advert that you’re running.
As Shadowbox says, if it were for the web then you could run with a mix of website, web-site and web site to cover all bases.
I just Googled both and I got “Did you mean website designers” when I put it in as two words, so I guess one word is correct.
I see why you did it for SEO, but this is a print ad.
In school I was taught that either is correct. Just make sure what you use is consistent throughout the copy. I prefer “website” .
Heh, funny. The word website didn’t exist when I was in school!
Neither did ‘referer’ with one R - which somehow made it into the HTTP standard.
I often wondered this as well 
Well, I was considered a returning adult when I went. 
The general trend is that over time, a construction starts out as two words, eventually becomes hyphenated, and finally ends up as one word. I.e., lawn mower becomes lawn-mower becomes lawnmower.
Me, I prefer it as two words, but maybe that’s because I’m an old fart and resistant to change. The Internet itself barely existed when I was in school.
A matter of preference (mine is “website”), but I think it comes down to an ad hoc term (“web site”) having made the transition into colloquial usage. Kinda like using a hyphen in the word “email” (i.e., “e-mail”). It made sense in 1996, but the hyphen generally got dropped when it became an everyday household word. I’d say the same goes for the space in “web site”.
I always say “Web site”. Yes, Web with a capital W. To me, “website” seems slangy, unprofessional, and unacceptable.
I still capitalize the I on Internet…
The REAL pain with this word (or two, depending on your point of view) is SEO on things like website design … check the overture stats, its REALLY maddening!
what’s maddening about it?
Deciding WHICH you want to optimize for and bring your keyword content up with. Ive tried doing both and Google really hammers you for trying so i decided to go back to website … but a LOT of people use web site when searching
It refers to two things, web and site, same thing as web development, web design, web hosting or web host.
So anyone that writes website, I assume also writes: webdevelopment, webdesign, webhosting, and webhost(s).
Either way, that isn’t correct.
I say Google is wrong:
Did you mean: website
But what if I’m using it as a noun object, referred to in the singular? When I refer someone to a “website”, I’m surely not sending them to the Web in general. But then again… if we’re going to be that way about it, shouldn’t we be saying “World Wide Web site”? After all, in this context, the word “web” itself is a corruption. Should “web” be capitalized? If not, however are we going to know that it doesn’t refer to spider webs, webs of deceit, or industrial webbing? Referring to it as a one-word term resolves these issues nicely.
New words have been created from combining words and word fragments for thousands of years. Seeing that the words “web” and “site” weren’t typically used together until about ten years ago, I think the grammar nazi jury is still pretty much out to lunch on that one.
Personally, I think “website” will ultimately win out on my side of the Atlantic; we Yanks typically fall back on the colloquial. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, though, if “web site” ended up being the preferred term in the U.K. and in other nations that hold to language usage conforming more to the Queen’s English.
Like “Internet”, “Web” is a proper noun. I still use the term “Web site” although I prefer the now more common variation of “website”. I also use “Web page”, “Web master” (prefer “webmaster”) and “e-mail”. The terms website, webpage, webmaster, and email seem more progressive. Maybe it’s time for a change.
Some further reading…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_site#Spelling
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=web%20site
http://www.stcsig.org/te/newsletter/supplement/mar2003_decpollresults.asp
http://www.sparknotes.com/writing/style/topic_97.html
http://www.middlebury.edu/administration/communications/info/spelling.htm
This is simply a personal preference, in choosing capitalization, punctuation or spelling. I make my choice of writing “web site”, from what gather as very good reasons. 
The term “world wide web” was concatenated to web for a perfectly clear reason, the same why you are called by Robert, instead of Robert Warren, by those around you. (Except probably your mother when she is upset with you, for some reason parents always use at least two names in these situations) :agree:
I disagree on any confusion of this web with a spider web, I don’t think I’ll say “go to the web and search for it” and see that person trying to find a spider’s web to find whatever! 
New words ARE created, no matter who tries to control its course.