What Is URL Fragment?

Why It Matters

Fragments are the one part of a URL that’s invisible to servers. When a visitor clicks a link with a fragment (#pricing, #faq, #contact), the browser handles it client-side after following any redirects. This is important to understand because:

1. You can’t configure server-side rules based on fragments — the server never sees them
2. Browsers automatically preserve fragments during 301/302 redirects
3. No special configuration needed in Domain Forward

How Fragments Work During Redirects

1. Visitor clicks: https://old-domain.com/page#pricing

2. Browser sends to server: GET /page HTTP/1.1
   Host: old-domain.com
   (fragment NOT included)

3. Server responds: 301 → https://new-domain.com/page

4. Browser follows redirect to: https://new-domain.com/page#pricing
   (browser re-attaches the fragment)

The fragment #pricing survives the redirect because the browser holds onto it.

Fragment vs Query String

Feature	Query String	Fragment
Prefix	?	#
Sent to server	Yes	No
Visible in analytics	Yes	No
Configurable in forwarding	Yes	No (automatic)
Example	?ref=twitter	#pricing

For redirect analytics, query strings are visible but fragments are not — because fragments never reach the server.