a:hover {
  /* стили */
}

a:hover, .active {
  /* стили */
}

<script type="text/javascript">
$('a[href="'+location.href+'"]').addClass('active');
</script>

<script>
onload = function ()
{
for (var lnk = document.links, j = 0; j < lnk.length; j++)
if (lnk [j].href == document.URL) lnk [j].style.color = '#fff';
}
</script>

a:visited{}

a:active{}

<ul class="links">
      <li><a href="/">1</a></li>
      <li><a href="/load">2</a></li>
      <li><a href="/">3</a></li>
</ul>
<style>
      .active_link {color:#ff0000 !important;background:#000;}
</style>
<script>   
      onload = function () {   
   var lnk = $('.links a');
   for (var j = 0; j < lnk.length; j++)   
       if (lnk[j].href == document.URL) {   
     $(lnk[j]).addClass('active_link');
       }
      }   
</script>