Looks count but aren't everything, after looks you need other stuff, looks will however get you laid even if you're a dick, they will even get you relationships even if you're a dick, you can be a dick and ugly and still get women provided you're strong/confident. There are a huge variety of different types of girls out there who will accept various things, there are a number of girls who will ONLY go for looks, there are a number of girls who won't go for a muscly person at all.

Be whoever you are but consider changes in order to get the demographic of people you want to be able to get, if that means the demographic that only go for a ripped body then you're going to have to get ripped, there's no way around that at all.

Everyone else though, is it necessary? No. Will it help in some cases? Yes. Will it make it harder in some others? Yes.

The argument has never been that looks don't matter, just that things are considerably more complicated. It all depends on who you want.

Simply be whoever you are and you will attract those that are most attracted to you in particular, throw confidence and understanding of how everything works into that and you'll make things much smoother.

So, in brief, do looks matter? Yes. No. Maybe.