How IGN A/B tested its way to a better homepage

So they learned:

3. CHANGE: “Mass Effect 3 Review” headline rewritten as “EXCLUSIVE: Mass Effect 3 Review” RESULT: IGN found that almost any headline with “exclusive” in it had on average 5.2% fewerclicks.

But they also learned:

7. CHANGE: “Sign Up For Email Updates>>” became “Get Free Exclusive Content>>” RESULT: More than a 34% increase in click-through-rate, with a 31% increase in subscriptions through those link clicks. THOUGHTS: People love free and exclusive. Just as with the YouTube subscription button test, this change was so positive that it was implemented permanently.