Prepare your AXO site
Prepare the access, data, and controls needed for your first AXO use case. Then follow a complete tutorial to personalize a homepage headline or send an action after an event. Each tutorial covers setup, verification, and stopping the behavior.
Choose the outcome and identify who can set it up
| You want to… | Start here | Prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Change page content for a defined visitor group. | First personalization | A page area, replacement content, audience condition, and measurable goal. |
| Send a webhook or other action when visitor activity qualifies. | First trigger | A qualifying event or audience, destination access, exclusions, and delivery evidence. |
- AXO editor: confirm the account and selected site, then check that you can edit its content or triggers.
- Site owner or developer: install the tag, connect consent behavior, and confirm that the chosen form or success event is captured. Embedded forms and custom application flows may need additional work.
- AXO owner or admin: manage site settings and permissions, including review before publishing.
- Destination owner: supply and verify access when a trigger sends to another system. Incoming tag activity alone does not establish CRM mapping or outbound delivery.
One person can hold several roles. If required access is missing, record its owner and the blocked step. You can prepare copy or a specification while access is arranged, but the launch is not complete. For generated browser checks, ask the account owner or AXO for the test environment and isolation evidence before navigation. An ordinary site or preview link does not establish that isolation.
1. Install the tag
Configure your consent settings before installing or enabling the tag. Then open Install and follow the instructions for your platform.
- Custom website: add the supplied snippet to the document head on every page where AXO will run.
- Shopify theme: connect the AXO app, then enable AXO tag in your theme's App embeds.
- Headless Shopify: install the tag in your storefront layout and follow the checkout tracking instructions on Install.
Use the installation status on this page to check that AXO is receiving activity. Also check the particular page and event your use case needs. Activity from one page does not prove that a confirmation page, embedded form, or external conversion is connected.
2. Set your goal and publishing mode
- In Account Settings, configure Conversion goals. Choose the outcome you want this experience to improve.
- Review Brand before generating copy so AI has your tone and brand guidance.
- Open Publishing and turn on Review before publishing if you want to review saved content before visitors see it.
Review before publishing is off by default. With it off, edits to saved content become eligible for delivery after autosave. The content editor shows which mode applies. This setting affects content across the selected site; turning it off releases pending edits. Triggers have their own enable and pause controls.
If an owner or admin turns on approval for content variants in Approvals (Settings, Approvals), review before publishing stays on for that site. Publishing a variant then needs an approval.
3. Create your first experience
For a complete example with a defined audience and pass/fail checks, follow First personalization. The shorter sequence below is for readers who already know their audience. For event-driven actions, continue with First trigger.
- Ask Claude to bind your first zone. Start with one headline or banner on one page. You can also use the dashboard picker.
- Choose an existing audience in Segments whose description fits your message. If you need to create one, follow Choose an audience.
- Open Content, choose its page type and zone, then add a variant for that segment.
- Write the content or choose Draft with AI. Follow Create and publish content to save, preview, and publish it.
For several pages, Sitemap → Run deep analysis can suggest zones for review. You can create your first zone without running a crawl.
4. Launch and measure
For personalization, review all approved zones and eligible published content with the site owner before opening Launch. Activating the site can release other prepared experiences too; resolve unreviewed content first. Resolve incomplete installation, zone, and variant checks, then choose Go live and confirm Go Live. A site in Pre-launch collects a baseline but does not serve normal personalized content. Trigger activation and delivery are checked in the trigger tutorial.
Verify a qualifying visitor, an excluded visitor, and the chosen goal separately. A forced preview proves rendering only. Follow the verification cases, then use the Impact page as real visitor evidence accumulates. Being eligible to appear does not establish conversion lift.