Arthur Kolbe
Detmold, Germany · building online since 2017

Arthur Kolbe

Web design, SEO and everything I built on the way there. Social pages, stores, checklists, plugins, software and apps. All of it, in one place.

Arthur Kolbe

Founder of Webdesign OWL. 5+ years of technical SEO, 41 client projects, three languages: English, German, Russian.

Hi, I'm Arthur.

Intro video in English. Coming soon.

2017first project, at 15
41client projects delivered
3×projects per client on average
7Mviews on one viral post
#1on Google for 5 client keywords
≈30k €revenue with my agency
The road so far

A messy road, with cool things along it.

It wasn't linear. Things overlapped, some failed, one stuck. Here is how it went.

  1. 2017

    MoneyFacts Social

    At 15 I started a page posting facts about money, because nobody did it well. Ran Facebook ads, built my first website with a newsletter, got to 1,000 followers on Instagram. Then I ran out of facts. Looking at how news sites rank on Google is how I found SEO.

  2. 2020

    Apocalypse Living Social

    A survival and prepping theme page. 1,000 followers in two weeks, a post with 7 million views, 35k followers. Earned about 2,000 € from shoutouts and sponsored posts. My first money online.

  3. 2020

    Business registered, dropshipping Dropshipping

    Registered my business on 21 February 2020, a month after turning 18. Learned from someone doing dropshipping full time and helped him build his stores. Ran my own: a Kuksa mug, silicone gloves, a phone lighter.

  4. 2020

    First client Web Design

    Walked into the local restaurant, nervous as hell, asked why they had no website and offered to build one. Sold it for 250 €. I liked building websites more than anything else, so I went full time.

  5. 2021+

    Webdesign OWL SEO

    Came back to SEO, learned it properly and ranked my own business #1 for my city and district. My first SEO client brought 1,000 €, then about 8,000 € in total, and still pays 250 € every month.

  6. 2025+

    Systems and software Software

    Checklists and SOPs for every service, a sales system, WordPress plugins, an email scraper, a backlink pipeline, a Chrome extension and my own apps.

01 · Social MediaPages I grew from zero

Before clients, I learned what makes people stop scrolling.

Instagram · Facebook · 20207M viewsOne post: 200k likes, 100k+ saves
PersonalTheme page

Apocalypse Living

Infographics and videos for preppers. Cracked 1,000 followers in about two weeks and 10 posts, went viral after two months.

35k followers on Instagram, about 2,000 € from sponsored posts.
InstagramThe viral postFacebook
Instagram · Facebook · Twitter · 20171,600followers across three platforms
PersonalContent page + website

MoneyFacts

Facts about money, plus my first website with a newsletter that mailed every fact. Grown with Facebook ads.

1,000 on Instagram, 500 on Facebook, 100 on Twitter.
Facebook page

02 · DropshippingStores and products

No inventory, just the right product in front of the right people. Ended when one product got my ad account suspended.

Product store · 202015 salesuntil the ads stopped paying off
PersonalFacebook ads

Kuksa Mug

A traditional wooden camping mug, sold through its own page and ads.

Facebook page
Product store · 2020GlovesSilicone heat resistant gloves
PersonalFacebook ads

Silicone Heat Resistant Gloves

Kitchen and grill gloves, tested with its own page and ad creatives.

Facebook page
Product test · 2020LighterThe one that got the ad account banned
PersonalLesson learned

Phone Lighter

Testing this product suspended my whole business ad account, which ended dropshipping. What stayed: I loved building the stores.

03 · Web DesignWebsites for local businesses

Built under Webdesign OWL for businesses across Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Most of them rank on Google today.

ClientDetmold

Heilpraktiker Müller & Schulz

Website, SEO and maintenance for a naturopath practice that had just moved to Detmold.

#1 for "Heilpraktiker Detmold".
ClientDetmold & Stemwede

Ingenieurbüro Hegerfeld

New business, wanted local clients without paying for ads. Website, SEO and maintenance.

#1 for "Energieberater Detmold".
ClientDetmold

Made2Drive

Logo, website and SEO for a newly founded driving school in a competitive market.

Top 3 for "Fahrschule Detmold", 500+ student inquiries.
ClientDetmold

Gartenservice Aksoy

Website and SEO for a garden service.

#1 for "Gartenservice Detmold".
ClientDetmold

Tierarztpraxis Eva Naurath

Website with appointment form and SEO for a vet practice.

#1 for "Tierarzt Detmold".
ClientLage

Phönix Events

Slow site with privacy gaps that nobody could find. Repaired, sped up and made GDPR compliant.

#1 for its own name, 82 calls via Google profile.
Also built or repaired6 moreKorfu Grill · Haus Flores Catering · 4 Your Life Balance · Life Energy · Praxis Steinkamp · Engelmed Heptin
ClientDetmold, Löhne, Bielefeld, Blomberg

Websites, repairs, an online ordering system for a caterer and an online shop. Full list on the projects page.

All projects on webdesignowl.com
2020 · first website sold250 €The local restaurant. I walked in and asked.
ClientRestaurant

My first client

First time I made that much money in one chunk.

04 · SEORankings, with proof

Straight from Search Console and Google Maps. Local SEO is what turns a website into new customers.

ClientSearch Console

Heilpraktiker Müller & Schulz

Top 5 for national terms like "Akupunkturpunkte" too, which built an email list of 800+ people.

12,600 clicks · 307,000 impressions
ClientSearch Console

Ingenieurbüro Hegerfeld

Presented as the clear market leader. New leads come in from search.

#1 "Energieberater Detmold"
ClientSearch Console

Made2Drive

Nobody knew Sven when he started. "Fahrschule Detmold" gets 800+ searches a month.

110 inquiries in the first 6 months, 500+ since
ClientGoogle Maps & Search

Local map pack wins

Six businesses in the top spots for their main keyword. Click to zoom.

ClientSearch Console

Phönix Events

Couldn't be found even by its own name. Now first.

82 calls via the Google profile
webdesignowl.com#1"webdesign owl" and "webdesign detmold", plus 13 city pages across OWL
PersonalOwn agency

Ranking my own business

Technical cleanup, 238 blog posts cut to 53, 110 redirects, 13 exact match city pages. The site now brings in my clients.

webdesignowl.com

05 · Website MaintenanceSites I keep running

Backups, updates, browser tests, speed and GDPR checks, every week, from the checklist below.

Since 2025250 €/moHeilpraktiker Müller & Schulz
ClientDetmold

Heilpraktiker Müller & Schulz

Monthly care for the site I built and ranked.

Since 2025MonthlyIngenieurbüro Hegerfeld
ClientDetmold & Stemwede

Ingenieurbüro Hegerfeld

Ongoing maintenance alongside SEO.

Ongoing2 moreKorfu Grill · 4 Your Life Balance
ClientDetmold · Bielefeld

Korfu Grill & 4 Your Life Balance

A restaurant site and a site with online shop, kept fast, secure and up to date.

06 · Logo & DesignBrands and graphics

A recognizable logo, consistent colors, and everything done professionally.

ClientLogo + branding

Made2Drive

The logo I designed, now on the driving school's cars all over Detmold.

ClientGraphic design

Engelmed Heptin

Graphic work for an ambulant care service.

ClientLogo + website

Life Energy

Brand from scratch, then the website around it. Bielefeld.

07 · AdsPaid acquisition

Funnels and creatives for my own agency.

PersonalMeta Ads · Sept 2025

Driving school campaign

"Your driving school is ready, but where are the students?" 36 creatives tested on Facebook and Instagram.

60 € cost per lead
PersonalStrategy

The funnel I sell

Top of funnel ads, middle of funnel social, bottom of funnel search ("Fahrschule + Stadt"). From the Made2Drive case study I use in sales.

08 · Customer SupportWhat clients say

21+ five star reviews on Google. Unlimited revision rounds, and clients keep coming back.

★★★★★
"Very reliable, fast and competent. My wishes were handled professionally. I'm very happy with the collaboration and amazed what such a young company pulls off."
Eva NaurathTierarztpraxis, Detmold
★★★★★
"A great collaboration for a long time now! Everything is done the way we want it and we're very happy with the results."
4 Your Life BalanceBielefeld
★★★★★
"Super friendly, went into all of our wishes and the result is great!"
Veronika MüllerDetmold
★★★★★
"Very kind, reliable and professional!!"
Serin SahintekinGoogle review
21+five star Google reviews
3projects per client on average, 41 projects for 13 clients
∞revision rounds, full refund after the tenth if still unhappy
1:1the person you call is the person who builds your site

Reviews translated from German.

09 · SalesHow I close

My own version of the Straight Line Persuasion System, plus the documents that carry a lead to a sale.

PersonalSales system

Straight Line System

Rapport, intelligence gathering, presentation, then every objection gets looped back to "does the idea make sense to you?" until the close.

PersonalSales collateral

Case study & sales docs

"The story of Made2Drive", success projects, packages, pricing, a doubt handling procedure and Stripe links, all in one sales kit.

10 · ChecklistsEvery service, step by step

So a site can be built, ranked and maintained the same way every time. Click any sheet to read it.

Personal13 pages

High Conversion Web Design

The wireframe of a market leader's site, section by section, from navigation to footer.

PersonalHero section

The hero area

Two goals only: trust and conversion. Reviews, owner photo, past work and a form above the fold.

PersonalOn page · Technical · Off page

Local SEO Checklist

Keywords, tracking, Google Business Profile, content, on page, technical and off page, in order.

Personal10 steps

GDPR Checklist

SSL, privacy policy, cookie banner, local fonts, maps, forms, accessibility. What German sites legally need.

PersonalWeekly

Website Maintenance Checklist

Backup, updates, cross browser tests, speed and data protection, tracked week by week.

PersonalDevelopment

Pagespeed & Responsive

15 speed steps and 10 responsive steps, each with how and why. About an hour per site.

11 · SoftwareTools I built to do less by hand

Python, Flask and the Claude API.

Serper search→Filter portals→AI reads each site→Pitch written→You approve→Sent via SMTP→Replies sorted→Article drafted→You approve→Link live
PersonalPython · Flask · Claude API

Backlink Pipeline

Finds sites that take guest posts, checks if they invite authors or charge for it, writes the pitch in Du or Sie, reads replies and drafts the article in my writing style. Nothing goes out without my click, and sites that don't invite authors get a call first, to stay within German law.

def get_email_addresses(url):
    response = requests.get(url)
    soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
    # Extract email addresses with a regex
    return re.findall(
        r'\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b',
        soup.text)

for domain in domains:   # 700+ German sites
    results.append((domain, get_email_addresses(domain)))
PersonalPython

Email Scraper

Pulls contact emails from 700+ health, finance, family and local news sites into a CSV, for backlink outreach.

PersonalGoogle Sheets

Webdesign OWL operating system

One sheet that runs the business: lead and client tracking, keyword and backlink tracking, profit and loss, competitors, and 40+ linked SOPs. Intro questionnaire, onboarding, hosting setup, tracking, keyword research, content briefs, press releases, citations, backlinks, quality control, plus English instructions for external contractors.

12 · WordPress PluginsCustom code when no plugin fits

Mostly WooCommerce, mostly for a catering client's online ordering system.

// Minimum order: 10 main courses, more variety allowed as the order grows
foreach (WC()->cart->get_cart() as $cart_item) {
    if (has_term('hauptgerichte', 'product_cat', $cart_item['product_id'])) {
        $total_hauptgerichte_quantity += $cart_item['quantity'];
    }
}
if ($total_hauptgerichte_quantity < $minimum_order_amount) {
    remove_action('woocommerce_proceed_to_checkout', ...);
}
ClientHaus Flores Catering

Minimum Order & Main Course Rules

Blocks checkout under 10 main courses and limits how many different dishes fit each order size.

ClientWooCommerce

Delivery Address & Date

Delivery date picker with 30 minute slots from 11:30 to 19:00, shown in emails, the order list and the thank you page.

ClientPrivacy

Google Maps Content Blocker

A shortcode that keeps Google Maps blocked until the visitor clicks "Karte laden". GDPR compliant maps without a consent plugin.

ClientWooCommerce · 4 plugins

Checkout & Cart

Custom Cart Button Shortcode with a checkmark state, required Additional Info field, delivery address unchecked by default, and First Name, Last Name and Phone on registration.

ClientWooCommerce

PLZ Checker

A postcode popup that checks whether the caterer delivers to you before you order.

PersonalMedia Library

Image Marker

Highlights every image in the media library that is actually used on the site, plus bulk download and a custom item count. Makes cleanups safe.

13 · Apps & ExtensionThings I made for myself

A Chrome extension on the Web Store and the apps I use every day.

Work 6 links
Search ConsoleAnalyticsWordPress
Tools 4 links
Projects 9 links
PersonalChrome Web Store · v1.0 · Aug 2026

Tabs

Stop drowning in tabs. Organize links into colored categories and open them from one tidy popup, in background tabs. Drag and drop, dark mode, no account and no tracking. Free up to 3 categories, Pro unlimited.

Get it on the Chrome Web Store
AppXP & RanksTo-dos that level you up
PersonalProductivity

To-Do RPG Rank System

A to-do list that turns finished tasks into rank progress, like a game.

AppDay 1, 2, 3…Clean day streaks
PersonalHabits

Substance Tracker

Counts clean days and keeps the streak visible.

AppSpaceRewards for finished tasks
PersonalProductivity

Task Reward System

Space Edition. Tasks earn rewards you can spend.

AppVisionGoals you look at daily
PersonalGoals

Vision Board

A board for the goals and images I want in front of me every day.