# Experiments

URL: https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/

> Create, edit, preview, start, pause and finish experiments.



An experiment compares two or more versions of your website (the *variations*) and measures which one performs better.
This section explains how to build an experiment, how to create and edit variations, how to check everything before
real visitors see it, and how to control the experiment while it runs.

A typical workflow looks like this:

1. [Create the experiment](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/create-experiment/) and add its variations, pages, audiences and goals.
2. Build the variations with the [Visual Editor](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/visual-editor/), a redirect or your own code, see
   [Variations](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/variations/).
3. [Preview and test](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/preview-and-qa/) the experiment.
4. [Start it](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/start-pause-stop/) and watch the results.

If you run your first experiment, follow [Your first experiment](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/getting-started/first-experiment/) step by step.

- [Create an experiment](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/create-experiment/): Name, description, tags and metadata.
- [Variations](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/variations/): Variation types and how to edit them.
- [Visual editor](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/visual-editor/): Edit a page visually.
- [Shopify variations](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/shopify-variations/): Theme and template variations for Shopify shops.
- [AI features](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/ai-features/): AI-assisted ideas and result interpretation.
- [Preview & QA](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/preview-and-qa/): Check an experiment before it goes live.
- [Start, pause & finish](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/start-pause-stop/): The experiment lifecycle.
- [Scheduling](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/scheduling/): Start and stop automatically.
- [Clone & archive](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/clone-and-archive/): Reuse and tidy up experiments.
- [Exclusion groups](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/exclusion-groups/): Keep experiments mutually exclusive.
- [Experiment ideas](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/experiment-ideas/): Collect and prioritize test ideas.