If you change your file to have a .php extension instead of .html, then you can use a script to check if a value has been added to the url. Your server must have php installed for this to work of course.
An example would look something like this in your php file.
<?php
//check if var is in URL and store it in $yourVar otherwise store the string 'blank text'
if ($_GET) {
$yourVar = $_GET['hidden-val'];
} else {$yourVar = 'blank text';
}
?>
your url would look something like this
http://www.yourdomain.com/yourfile.php?hidden-val=somevalue
or if the file is index.php you can use
http://www.yourdomain.com/?hidden-val=somevalue
An alternative solution is to use a javascript/jquery approach, which would look something like..
$(document).ready(function() {
var yourVar = window.location.search.substring(1);
alert('you passed in ' + yourVar);
}
this thread may be of help also.. How to get the value from the GET parameters?