Hey, I completely get where you're coming from. Those first 3-6 months with a new site can be a real grind, especially when you're putting in the work and not seeing the needle move. It's a common experience; Google often keeps new sites in a sort of "sandbox" until they build more trust, so don't get discouraged.
To add a layer that's worked wonders for me, I'd suggest this: go hyper-specific with your content research. Instead of just broad keywords, I spend time on Reddit and niche forums looking for very specific, long-tail questions that people are asking but that don't have a great, dedicated answer on Google. For one of my own affiliate sites, I found a thread comparing two very specific software tools. I wrote a detailed post answering that exact question, and it started pulling in organic traffic within weeks because it was a query with real demand and almost no competition.
Once you have that killer piece of content, you want Google to find it ASAP. To speed up the discovery process for new pages, I've had success using paid indexing services. It’s not a magic bullet for rankings, but it can get your URL into Google’s system in hours instead of days or weeks, giving it a chance to rank much faster.
It sounds like you're on the right track. Just shift from broad promotion to surgically targeting un-answered user problems. Hope that helps