Sherlock Holmes would have been the best SEO on the planet.

Give the man Google and he would tear the algorithm apart. His mental abilities were unfair. His use of logic and frameworks would unravel search results and shine a light on why certain results bubble to the top.

What can we learn from Sherlock that we could apply to our own SEO strategy?

Screenshots replace Sherlock's photographic memory

Sherlock Holmes would enter a room and memorize every detail.

He'd store this visualization in his mind palace. He'd return to it as he traced his steps, analyzed the contents, and discovered connections that solved his mysteries.

We don't need the photographic memory of Sherlock Holmes.

We can rely on the power of the screenshot. Dissect the search result page. It provides the clues that SEOs can use to inform their own content creation.

Use deductive reasoning to piece together clues from the search results

What answers are the searcher trying to answer? Each result on the page is an educated guess at what Google believes will satisfy the user.

• Are page one results informational, commercial, navigational, or transactional?

• Are there other navigational 'pills' or 'tabs' that add context for related searches?

• What terms appear in a 'people also ask' and related searches?

• Is there a featured snippet, videos, knowledge graph or other enhanced results on the page?

Sherlock would look at these elements. He'd paint the picture in his Mind Palace. He'd use deductive reasoning to design the 'best' result. As an SEO, you need to do the same.

Don't copy the content. Read the clues like a map.

Adopt a forensic science framework for strategy guidance

The detective only valued hard evidence.

Opinions? Useless. Unreliable. Biased.

Sherlock solved his cases with trace evidence that filled in the gaps of a narrative. It's tempting to adopt the gospel of SEO experts in the industry. But even Google documentation can be misleading.

The hard truth is that Google is always adjusting the algorithm. What worked in the past, might not work tomorrow.

We need to apply our own expertise driven by experience, our own testing, and our own data to guide our strategies.

That's what Sherlock Holmes would do. He'd rank number one.