Hyperlink File: Click to download

Hi, simple question: how to i force download a pdf file that is hyperlinked? I do not want to open it in a new tab. If anyone has thoughts on this please let me know! Code I tried: 

<p><a href= "/s/filename" download>Download File Here</a></p>

<a href="example.pdf" download="">Download</a>

Did this actually work? I can not get it to work. I think because even though when you hover the link looks like the file is on your site but in reality the file is being hosted on static.squarespace......