The best advice I could give to a guy on a dating site would be:

1. Be specific. Put something in a short message that shows you read the profile and aren't looking for any woman. Don't just write "hi."
2. Don't only comment on looks. In fact don't comment on them at all. It is a huge turn off coming from a stranger. Hot girls hear it all the time . When people did that to me I just knew they were liars right from the start (I have a lot of great qualities but being beautiful isn't one of them)
3. Don't start with "hello beautiful" etc as terms of endearment are weird coming from a stranger, and are in fact most likely to come from a Nigerian scammer

If you took out all of the messages the followed those guidelines, there are very few left. Sure women get more messages than men , even over the hill ones like me , but most of those messages are so low quality they're not worth reading . They're copied and pasted to everybody or they come from someone who is looking for your money .

I also got a lot of messages from very young guys. People younger than my children. I don't fault them for trying, but I think some people think just if you're older that you're low hanging fruit. Not actually true; I'm very selective and looking for somebody pushing 60 with similar values and a calm, steady personality. Couldn't even imagine having casual sex with someone young enough to be my child (or casual sex at all). I don't think it's always a bad idea to try out side of someone's age range, but don't be surprised that older women aren't as into younger men as the media makes people think. I don't actually know any cougars in real life.