diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index e051000..804a831 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
   cattr_reader :per_page
   @@per_page = 50
 
+  # display the user's website correctly
+  def display_website
+    output = self.website
+    output = "http://#{website}" if output.present? && output.index('http') != 0
+    return output
+  end
+
   # get the user's time zone or UTC time
   def time_zone_or_utc; time_zone || 'UTC'; end
 
diff --git a/app/views/users/profile.html.erb b/app/views/users/profile.html.erb
index 995e9c0..cff7293 100644
--- a/app/views/users/profile.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/users/profile.html.erb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   <h2><%= t(:profile_for) %> <%= @user.login %></h2>
   <%= t(:member_since) %> <%= @user.created_at.strftime('%B %-d, %Y') %>
   <br><br>
-  <%= t(:profile_website) %>: <%= link_to @user.website, @user.website %>
+  <%= t(:profile_website) %>: <%= link_to @user.website, @user.display_website, target: '_blank' %>
   <br><br>
   <%= t(:profile_bio) %>: <%= @user.bio %>
   <br><br>