Hip hip hooray for hashtags
A birthday dedication to the humble hashtag and how to avoid a common analytics blunder
Orchard’s Optimisation Specialist, David Szanto, takes us through the humble history of a small symbol that’s had a big impact, and how we can avoid a common Google Analytics blunder when we use a hashtag in our URLs.
The history of the hashtag
In popular culture, the #, pound, or hashtag celebrated its 13th birthday last week, brought into this word by developer Chris Messina on Twitter in 2007.
Although it is just a teenager, the hashtag deserves to be celebrated as it has already contributed so much to the world, paving the way for unforgettable moments such as Susan Boyle’s album launch listening party post.
The hashtag as a fragment identifier
Chris Messina surely gained inspiration to suggest the # after noticing the early adoption of it as a fragment identifier in HTML.
You yourself may have spotted hashtags in website URL strings functioning as fragment identifiers that set the browser’s scroll position to a predefined location on a web page load. Or seen a # included as a readable element for JavaScript to identify the portions of a dynamic page that should be loaded.
Closer to home, you’ll find a # in the URL for (our client) Hyundai’s CPC (Car Price Calculator) page:
https://www.hyundai.com/au/en/shop/calculator#/kona
The URL loads the CPC page with all the info relevant to the vehicle model identified in the string of text located immediately after the #. In this particular case, its Hyundai’s funky urban SUV, the Kona.
Used this way, the hashtag is great for raising the effectiveness of link-driven traffic and streamlining the user experience on a website. But when it comes to data and reporting, putting hashtags in URLs creates a bit of a problem. But happily, it’s easy to avoid.
Here’s the deal. Analytics reporting systems like Google Analytics default to NOT reading or recording any URL information after a hashtag. That means they’ll collate all the information captured under a single page path.
For example, all the pageview data for the below URLs would all fall under the single page path /shop/calculator
https://www.hyundai.com/au/en/shop/calculator#/kona
https://www.hyundai.com/au/en/shop/calculator#/tucson
https://www.hyundai.com/au/en/shop/calculator#/venue
So you don’t end up knowing how which models are being considered the most, the least, or anything in between.
But as mentioned, this is easily addressed because it’s the default setting, and it’s can be easily changed. If you want some help with how to do that, click on this link:
https://www.simoahava.com/gtm-tips/track-url-fragments-as-pageviews/
So here’s to you, hashtag. You’ve been great at bringing us together, organising content, and as a fragment identifier. To everyone else, don’t let this guy mess up your analytics ;)
