Messaging in 2025: Insights from 100 Homepages

Trends and takeaways from the world's biggest software companies

It’s never been harder for a tech company to stand out. Any feature can be copied within weeks, and categories are becoming increasingly saturated. This means your homepage, and the words you choose to lead with, matter more than ever.

So I decided to take a closer look. In fact, I went slightly unhinged.

This week, I pulled the homepage headers and subheaders from the 100 biggest private software companies in the world (based on the newly released Forbes Cloud 100 list) and analysed them. Partly for inspiration, but also to spot the patterns, call out the clichés, and hopefully help PMMs create better messaging.

A few caveats:

• The list skews heavily to B2B

• I was looking at the UK versions of these sites

• Messaging changes quickly, so it may already have shifted since I reviewed these sites

But it gives us a pretty good snapshot of where software messaging is today, and how you can differentiate. You can see the full list of 100 homepages below (with my own mini review of each), but first let’s look at the themes.

Messaging in 2025: the main trends

AI, on repeat

No surprises here. AI was everywhere. 52 companies mentioned “AI” directly, rising to 67 if you include words like “agents” or “intelligence”.

This tells us AI has become table stakes. It is not a differentiator.

Ironically, the companies most associated with AI (OpenAI, Perplexity) don’t use the word at all. Instead, they lead with questions and prompts:

• OpenAI: “What can I help with?”

• Perplexity: “Ask anything…”

• Canva: “What will you design today?”

So if you want to frame your company as an AI leader, find a way to message it without relying on the word itself. A question could work particularly well.

Speed still sells

Speed and efficiency was the second most common theme. “Faster” appeared 13 times. “Time” was used 8 times. “Accelerate” and “instant” both cropped up repeatedly.

My favourite example was Ramp’s “Time is money. Save both.” It captures the full value of the product in just five words. Economical and effective (underlying their value prop).

The bigger point is that SaaS is still hooked on speed and productivity. It works, but it’s starting to feel repetitive.

Buzzword bingo

I had a bingo card of phrases I expected to see, and people delivered: “platform”, “AI-native”, “agentic”, “orchestrate”.

Some homepages were so overloaded that it was hard to work out what they were selling. Have a read below to see what I mean, and do your best to avoid the clichés with your own messaging.

Superlatives everywhere

“#1”, “the fastest”, “the most advanced”. All designed to impress the buyer, but ultimately this just creates noise and wastes good homepage space if you’re not backing it up with proof.

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Is there a winning formula?

Many homepages fell into one of three predictable structures:

1. [Superlative] + [Category] + for [Audience]

   • “The #1 AI Platform for Revenue Teams” (Gong)

   • “The fastest analytical database for observability” (ClickHouse)

2. [Action Verb] + [Outcome]

   • “Ship faster, safer, and smarter” (LaunchDarkly)

   • “Spend smarter. Move faster” (Brex)

3. [Problem Solved]

   • “Business travel & expense management. Solved.” (Navan)

   • “Payroll, HR, Benefits. Simplified.” (Gusto)

Formulas aren’t bad, of course. They give you structure. But they’re also predictable. If you use one, try to add a twist.

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Trends by industry

Different sectors leaned on different stories:

• Data infrastructure: More technical, less aspirational. Example: Lambda’s “Gigawatt-Scale AI Factories for Training & Inference.”

• Security: There was a clear trend of go-to words like “trust”, “protect”, “secure”. More serious, threat-first tones.

• HR/People tools: Softer, more human language. Example: HiBob’s “Loved by people. Built for growth.”

• AI-first players: These often don’t mention AI at all. They let the product do the talking.

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Takeaways for PMMs

What to copy

• Lead with customer pain (Clio: “Constant interruptions…”).

• Be specific about outcomes (ClickHouse: “Fastest analytical database for observability”).

• If you want to be perceived as an AI company, go conversational (Canva: “What will you design today?”).

• Show, don’t tell (read more here).

What to avoid

• Generic “AI-powered” claims.

• B2B buzzwords.

• Vague grandiosity (e.g. “Innovation, redefined”).

• #1 claims without proof.

• Talking about what you’ve built instead of what customers achieve.

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How to approach your next homepage refresh

If you’re a PMM facing a homepage rewrite in 2025, here’s my advice:

1. Audit your buzzword frequency. If you’ve got more than two in a headline, think again.

2. Test problem-first headlines. Empathy usually beats category claims.

3. Differentiate with specifics. Don’t just say “AI-powered”. Explain what your AI does that others can’t.

4. Don’t be afraid to be conversational. Only a handful of companies do this, which makes it stand out.

5. Educate if you’re in a new category. Don’t assume visitors know what you do.

Your homepage needs to make the right people stop scrolling, understand what you do, and care enough to learn more. Use these pointers to help make that happen.

Now for the full list of 100 homepages. Let me know which of my reviews you disagree with!