Disclaimer: I'm a non-native English speaker, hope this post won't be hard to read. tl;dr below.

The first thing you need to understand is that Tinder is a variation of an RPG, where your skills and the level of their improvement directly affect your success. And the greatest influence is provided by *drums*... your photos! Also, how you look in these photos.

I've not used Tinder since last year, but I remember my profile photos and they're sucks. Messaging didn't bring me any close to dating, I've blamed myself for being boring when it's not the case really.

Prehistory:

A week ago I had with my friend a discussion of the eternal topic - "looks or personality". And I decided to create a new profile to prove the point. I uploaded a photo of a little-known Australian actor, medium height, looks good, in good shape, dresses simply but in style. He seems attractive to me. I deliberately did not take the best photos from magazines but picked up a few decent photos from his Instagram to make the profile look authentic. Age - 27. The description was simple and cliched, I wrote the first thing that came to mind:
"My friend suggested me to try tinder, but I don't know how to use it yet 😅
Open, creative, love animals. I'm attracted by meaningful people 😎».
I also chose interests I like: Cycling, Art, Cooking, Music, Cats.

I've only picked girls I'm interested in and found attractive.

Quick stats of 3 days:

Day 1: 19 matches, 99+ likes.

Day 2: +17 matches, 1 superlike, still 99+ likes.

Day 3: +21 matches, still 99+ likes.

8 girls started the conversation first.

4 girls didn't respond.

4 out of 4 girls was agreed to go to the bar on the first date (not everyone in the Western EU agrees to this kind of date usually).

16 conversations that worked out and where I was about to meet (I have ended talks here, cause no sense).

Age range: 18-35. 70% of them are 24-29 years.

Look:

Your look is a way you evaluate yourself and the way others will evaluate you. It's strongly connected. And I'm not talking about the genetic things, we are all different and I found it delightful. I don't know any scientific unit of measurement of attractiveness, but empirically, for me - an effort. "What kind of effort?" you may ask. The efforts you put in to be a better version of yourself. Smiling and direct eye-contact habits. Body condition, clothes, facial expressions, discipline, and much more things that are not directly related to physical look but can affect it. It doesn't take much time to see a difference between a person not doing any personal improvements and trying-his-best guy. We should be somewhere in the middle. Women especially see those efforts and pay attention to them. It's also about the confidence and boost of your chances to meet a good-looking partner. Live into the role you aspire to assume.

Picture tips:

A genuine smile, keep your shirt on, no group photos (better crop to highlight yourself), photos from your journeys and/or activities field, photos with pets, and no selfies. I'll recommend adding 2-4 photos, no less or more. If you have an instagram that tells more about you - link it to your profile (not by text in bio). Try to be moderate and smart on this step.

Tech stuff:

If you're already struggling on tinder, you probably reached a low rank which implies fewer times appearance for the targeted audience. Being on high rank means you get likes even if you stop swiping for a few days. You have to create a new account.

In my region, we have 100 swipes per day which are split by 50 every 12 hours. The first 50 swipes calibrate you to tell the algorithm what kind of girls do you prefer: low, mid, or high rank. The next 12 hours will tell the algorithm about your "attractiveness". There's one tricky thing you should pay attention to: don't like fake or too trashy profiles. Also, I could recommend avoiding instagram-only bios, one-picture, and/or empty bios (like nothing at all). And yeah, behind the scenes, that's all about numbers.

"Negotiation":

The first thing you notice is that women respond more enthusiastically to the usual "hello" and try to keep the conversation going. No pickup phrases, cold openers, or creative approaches need to be invented. There is simply no need for this, so you can just stay yourself and talk in a comfortable way. It's happening because now you are in the higher percentile.

We are at a point where guys can fuck up during texting and it is mostly about attitude. ...or become bored with the particular girl and that's okay, move on.

I'll be concisely here. Change:

critique -> compliments
deep topics -> having fun, joking, flirt
self-advertising -> genuine interest in her
politics, religion, last relationships -> hobbies, career, plans for future
what you hate -> what you like
grumping -> tell some funny story from your life
feeling shy -> ask her out.

Good deep talks are always good, but not right after the match.

That's about it. Thanks for reading.
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tl;dr: Looks do matter.