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Some traffic feels like possibility
Some traffic feels like applause and some traffic feels like possibility. The first kind makes your analytics look busy. The second kind makes your affiliate dashboard move. If you have been watching your pageviews rise and your commissions sit completely still, you have met the difference. You are very capable of getting people to your blog. However, many of the visitors arriving are not yet the kind of people who click. That is not a sign that you chose the wrong niche or that you should start over. It is a sign that you need to invite in visitors who came with purpose.
Purposeful traffic is traffic that shows up already caring about the problem you’re talking about. Semrush shows that when content matches what someone is actually trying to do, it converts better. This works because the visitor has already done part of the thinking before they arrive.¹ Instead of chasing every view from everywhere, you can focus on attracting people who have a specific frustration. Focus on those who are planning their next step, or coming back because they liked how you explained something before. When those visitors land on a post that clearly solves the problem and points to a tool or next step, they’re far more likely to click — and buy.
When pageviews don’t pay
There is a very specific kind of discouragement that shows up when you are doing the work. You’re publishing, pinning, and sharing and you still do not see sales. It makes you wonder whether your content is good, whether anyone needs it, whether you are just talking into the void. The truth is gentler. You probably have good content, but you do not yet have a steady stream of people ready to act on it. You have browsers, not buyers. And because you have browsers, you are forced to push harder on each post than you should have to.
If we look at your site as a simple path, it goes like this: a reader discovers you, a reader reads you, a reader clicks, a reader buys. When the first two steps are working but the third is not, the break is almost always in the quality of the visitor. Visitors who arrive by accident rarely click. Visitors who arrive on purpose are almost relieved to be told what to do next.
What purposeful traffic really is
Purposeful traffic is not always “high volume” traffic and it is not always “SEO-only” traffic. It is traffic whose context matches your content. A person who searched for “why my affiliate links aren’t converting” is purposeful because your post on that topic is the exact help they need. A creator on Pinterest who saves a pin called “3 emails to follow up on affiliate posts” is purposeful because she is planning to take action soon. Pinterest itself says people come to the platform “to find ideas for real life.” This is a softer way of saying they come ready to do something.² This is the energy we want.
Think of it this way. If someone arrives with a question, with a plan, or with trust, you can guide them. If someone arrives because they were bored, you will probably entertain them but not earn from them. So we will focus on the five sources most likely to send you visitors who came with intention: searchers, planners, warm social readers, email subscribers, and borrowed audiences.
Searchers who are naming the problem
One of the easiest kinds of visitors to turn into buyers is the person who goes to Google and types the exact thing they’re struggling with. That person isn’t just browsing — they’re trying to fix something today. If your post title says what they said in their head, they’ll stop and read.
So, for example, if someone searches:
- “why my affiliate links aren’t converting”
- “affiliate offers for small audiences”
- “how to build an email list with MailerLite”
And your post uses that same language, they’ll know right away they’re in the right place. From there, your job is simple: explain the fix, show them the steps, and point them to a tool or next action that makes the fix easier. Because they arrived already focused on that problem, they’re much more likely to click the link you recommend than a visitor who showed up by accident
Traffic from Planners on Pinterest
The second kind of purposeful visitor is the one who is planning. Pinterest sends a lot of this kind of traffic because people there are not only dreaming, they are collecting. They save pins when they intend to come back. If your pin promises to fix a real affiliate problem and your post actually fixes it, that person will land on your site already prepared to learn. Pinterest Business notes that users are often in an “I’m considering or I’m deciding” mindset, which is exactly when they are willing to click.²
To make this work, send your pins to posts that are already conversion-ready. Do not pin to thin content. Pin to the post that explains how to get traffic that buys, to the post that teaches your Problem → Solution → CTA format, or to the post that shows how to capture traffic with MailerLite. This way, when they land, the path is clear.
Warm social readers
Not every social visit is casual. If someone has seen your quote images about publishing instead of over-editing, or they have watched one or two of your short videos about non-converting posts, they have already begun to trust your voice. They may not know your whole brand yet, but they know you explain things in a way that makes discouragement feel smaller. That is a purposeful visitor.
When you post on social, do not send these people to random articles. Send them to the one post that is ready to convert. Say, “Getting views but no sales? I wrote about purposeful traffic sources.” Then link to this post. Because they already recognize your tone, you do not have to convince them for long. You just have to meet the need they already admitted they have.
Email subscribers who are returning to finish
Email is where your most intentional visitors live. When someone signs up for your MailerLite form on a previous post, they are telling you, “I want to keep learning this from you.” If you send that person an email two days later that says, “Today I posted about the five traffic sources that actually buy,” they will click back because it sounds like the same conversation. Litmus has shown for years that segmented, relevant emails get better responses than broad blasts, so sending your affiliate-related content to the people who signed up for affiliate help will always perform better.³
This is why every purposeful post needs a form. The first visit introduces you. The second visit moves them. The third visit earns the click.
Traffic from Borrowed audiences
The final source of purposeful traffic comes from other creators who serve the same kind of reader you do. As CoSchedule puts it, “Collaborations help you extend your reach by tapping into your collaborator’s fanbase. It also builds your credibility by leveraging the existing trust between your collaborator and their audience”—exactly what you need if your own audience is still growing.⁴ When another blogger tells their people, “If you’re getting traffic but no sales, read this post,” those people arrive believing you can help. That belief is a form of purpose.
The only thing you have to do to make this work is to send them to your most finished post. Do not send them to an about page. Do not send them to a category archive. Send them here, to the post that names the problem, shows the solution, offers the email list, and gently shows the tool.
Make every visit convertible
When you put all of this together, you stop chasing traffic for traffic’s sake. You write the post, you set up the form, you add your internal links, and then you aim it at the people who came to act. Every visit from a purposeful source becomes a chance to subscribe, to click, to buy.
Citations
- Semrush “What Is Search Intent? How to Optimize Your Content for It.” Semrush.com, accessed Nov. 3, 2025.
- Pinterest Academy. “How Your Audience Uses Pinterest.” Pinterest Academy, June 30, 2023., accessed Nov. 3, 2025.
- Litmus. “The ROI of Email Marketing.” Litmus.com, 2025 report.
- CoSchedule, How To Get More Subscribers On YouTube In 2024 Nov. 13, 2025.
Other Related Resources: The Seven Figure Roadmap: How to Build a Million Dollar Digital Marketing Agency, Josh Nelson, 2019
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