Think a headline does not matter?

A headline can either draw the reader in or not.

The Washington Post has different headlines on its website than in the print edition (why this is, I don’t know). This morning, for example, I barely glanced at Charles Krauthammer’s op-ed piece “Libyan ‘Crossfire’.”  Then, when perusing WashingtonPost.com I saw the following headline:

Krauthammer: Gaddafi justified his rotten death

Now, that intrigued me. So I clicked and lo and behold, it is the same article.

A good headline is descriptive, yes, and has an element to make you read further. Writing a good headline will get your article (or press release or blog post) seen (if not read fully).