Just got confused with some blogs as everyone is sure that Google will not index the hash (#) URL but not sure about hash bang (#!) URL. I have seen a deprecated doc on Google regarding this, where Google is asking to use #! for Ajax-based sites.Can some help me to decide whether I can go with #! URLs?
Does Google index #! (hash bang) URLs?
seo;url;google index;ajax
Hash bang URLs are most definitely deprecated. Wix (a popular web site builder) is probably one of the biggest facilitators of getting people stuck in them. The problem comes into play when you can never give a 301 Redirect for a hash bang URL from your end. Meaning that once you dig into using those types of URLs, changing sites/urls to somewhere else will be essentially next to impossible to retain your link juice for SEO purposes. I've used hash bang URLs, because years ago I started with Wix's website builder, but it cost me severely when I finally decided I had graduated from Wix's crutches. Investing the time in any other builder, or even Wordpress themes, will not only pay off in the long run, but you'll be happy you never had to learn about old deprecated link structuring like hash bangs.However, despite the limitations of #! URLs, Google definitely indexes these URLs and your site can be ranked by Google.