Linking to URLs With Hash (#) in Them

[MiguelSalcido]

How does link juice flow when linking to URLs with the hash tag in them?

If I link to this page, which generates a pop-over on my homepage that gives info about my special offer, where will the link juice go to?

homepage.com/#specialoffer

Will the link juice go to the homepage? Will it go nowhere? Will it go to the hash URL above?

I'd like to publish an annual/evergreen sort of offer that will generate lots of links. And instead of driving those links to homepage.com/offer, I was hoping to get that link juice to flow to the homepage, or maybe even a product page, instead. And just updating the pop over information each year as the offer changes.

I've seen competitors do it this way but wanted to see what the community here things in terms of linking to URLs with the hash tag in them. Can also be a use case for using hash tags in URLs for tracking purposes maybe?

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi Miguel

Check out this link here.

What I would do is create a call to action on the homepage that catches the user's eye and links them to an offer page. That way, you eliminate the need for this pop up (which shows lower engagement) and you can link to a static /offers page. I would just consider the usability aspect of it all before jumping in and sticking with it. Visual Website Optimizer and Optimizely can help you A/B test these sorts of things.

That being said, read the Webmasters Help Full Specification guide. There are some technicalities here that you would want to discuss with your web development team.

Hope this helps! Good luck!