Horton Automatics

Case Study
Optimizing a Website for Google Search Results

Our Digital Marketing Systems delivered 20% annual growth and $1.5M in sales in 2022, with 15x Return on Investment

About the Company

Horton Automatics of Ontario services and installs commercial automatic doors in hospitals, hotels, schools, government institutions, businesses and shopping malls throughout Ontario.

With three locations in Ontario (Ottawa, Burlington, and London) they offer clients the advantage of a large brand combined with an excellent local presence with the best response time in the industry.

The Problem

The Horton Automatics website could not be found in Google search results, and did not generate any leads for the business. CEO Peter Lawson wanted to grow the maintenance and service business, and asked Mawazo to assist. We proposed to start with establishing a clear marketing strategy, creating a new website, and optimizing the web presence for lead generation.

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Engagement Details

We started by creating an Actionable Growth Blueprint, based on precisely defining the needs and wants of the chosen target audience, and formulating a core message which clearly communicates the key differentiators from the competition.

We then created a lead generation website and optimized it for search engine ranking.

Finally we implemented a marketing engine and continue to run it for Horton Automatics until this day. It includes

  • Content marketing
  • Search engine optimization
  • Reputation management, and
  • Social media

The Result

The Horton Automatics of Ontario website launched in 2018.

In 2022, just three years later, our online marketing system generated:

  • $3.2M lead value, up from $2M in 2022
  • $1.5M in service revenue, up from $1.2M from 2021
  • 15x ROI (sales per $ marketing)
  • 1,435 phone calls, up from 981 in 2021
  • 1,297 service requests, up from 816 in 2021
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Based on the success with Horton Automatics of Ontario we have since implemented websites and online marketing programmes for 9 other subsidiaries of Door Service Inc throughout the United States.

Our strategy was successful thanks to our understanding of Horton Automatics’ specific client base and their needs. Potential leads in a B2B environment are often looking for a local solution to their needs. About 75% of the leads we generate for Horton Automatics are from local search results such as "automatic door repair near me".

The following images show the improvement in local results between the 1st of March and the 1st of September in 2021. Within a mere 6 months we brought the website of Horton Automatics to position 1 in the "3-pack" of local search results. The numbers in the circles represent the ranking in Google search results in that precise location.

Horton Automatics local ranking position

The Horton Automatics office has been well established in online directories such as Yelp, YellowPages, BBB and CitySearch, with a total of 198 citations and 27 out of 28 top sites in Canada. This is important for local search results.

Horton Automatics Citation score

One of the most important factors in visibility online, Google search results, was also much improved over the period of the implementation of our strategy. The higher you are ranked in Google, the more people are likely to find their way to your website.

Over a period of 3 years (4 Dec 2019 to 1 Dec 2022) we brought the website onto Page 1 of Google in Ontario for a long list of relevant search terms ("new" means the website was not ranked in the first 10 pages/100 entries on Google):

Horton Automatics Online Visibility

With the help of a clear plan, established in collaboration with Horton Automatics, we were able to drastically increase their visibility online; not just in general, but to specific clients that were the most compatible with their services and profitable for their company. Their marketing engine now delivers year over year growth, with a value of

  • $1.4 million generated in 2020,
  • $2 million generated in 2021,
  • and $3.2 million generated in 2022

Testimonial from Peter Lawson, CEO, Door Services Corporation

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We had consistent growth of service revenue at 20% per year. In 2022 our sales sales grew by about $300,000. Our digital marketing efforts are the only way we market that part of our business. We are seeing accelerated growth in service that seems to correlate to our improvements in traffic recorded in the US domestic business."


Peter Lawson, Vice President And General Manager

Door Services Corporation

Graham Farrel

Addressing the challenges of B2B field service companies

With our 25 years of experience in web development and digital marketing we have developed a unique system to address the challenges of B2B service companies. Our approach generates predictable results and we offer a unique performance guarantee.

Below is a decription of our 4-step process. This case study is relevant for phases 1 and 3 of our programme:

Find Hidden Profits In Your Business Systems

Generate 5x ROI
On Digital Marketing

Open New Markets Profitably

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We create a digital marketing strategy to differentiate you from the competition and  attract profitable clients

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Digital Transformation with custom automations removes costly inefficiencies and 
saves overhead cost

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Your Digital Marketing System delivers warm leads to sales, growing your revenue with our 5x ROI guarantee

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With technicians and leads in new markets you can grow and expand to new locations
without additional overhead

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