Don’t agree 100 %. A good headline means a lot of readers. Humans do care about good headlines – as Google does. Don’t see the conflict. Headlines always have to be great:
When it comes to dominating search, especially when it comes to blogging and publishing, you need to always write your headlines and copy first for Google, then for people. Humans (and their flexible brains) are very forgiving when it comes to reading possibly stilted, “robotic,” keyword-explicit headlines and articles, but Google is not.
Always Write for Google, Never for Humans
You always need to always write exactly the copy — the exact phrases — that you believe people will most likely use to find what they’re looking for — and you’re writing for. It’s true, no matter what anyone says — even at Google HQ! The title is the most important but so is the first paragraph, especially if you can insert that copy into your Description Meta Tag and your Keywords Meta Tag headers.