This was the single required attribute for anchors defining a hypertext source link, but is no longer required in HTML5. Omitting this attribute creates a placeholder link. The href attribute indicates the link target, either a URL or a URL fragment. A URL fragment is a name preceded by a hash mark (#), which specifies an internal target location (an ID) within the current document. URLs are not restricted to Web (HTTP)-based documents. URLs might use any protocol supported by the browser. For example, file, ftp, and mailto work in most user agents.

Note: 

You can use the special fragment "top" to create a link back to the top of the page; for example <a href="#top">Return to top</a>. This behavior is specified by HTML5.