3 important principes of UX-design
Writing
Every site must have an understandable captions for user interface — for labels, for button, for navigation menu. Buttons have to named by their real functionality. It is incorrect to set caption "Send text" for button which only open modal with textarea where user can write text to send it after. Caption "Send text ..." are better.
Write hint for for every non-understandable textfield. Yes, caption "Name" are good for field for user's name in sign up form, but "Description" are not understandable at adding page form in CMS system. Really, it can be anything. Maybe, manager with SEO understanding guess that it is "Meta description". But even this manager will have questions where this content uses.
However it can be as "description, that write at HTML code as description that views in search results" as "description of this page in page list at site". Moreover, it is more important for technical or specialized captions like "Checkout", "ROI", "Transfer description". They are not understandable for everyone encapsulated.
User must understand what the site is about. The most simple way to find out this to read what written at page "About". So, you have to write short, but simple text about the site. There can be features or benefits of the product/service, but before it — short description of the site. Short and understandable for the target audience. The last one you can done after communication with the target audience.
Navigation
Web site is base of some information. Users have to find needed content or do something action with minimal efforts. Good navigation helps this.
The main part of navigation is menu. There are have to place links to the most important pages. You have to name this links understandable for the target audience. So, there are good way to communicate with your target audience.
Some menu items can be added by dropdowns — you can create the hirerarchic view of your site. It works good with online shops/blogs with categories and similar applications. Moreover, there can placed links to second importance pages.
There are 3 best position of menu: in the top of the site, in the footer, in the sidebar. In the top of the site you can, also, set the phone number of your company. There have to be link to home page and few important page (like "About", "Contacts"). Link to contact page are always have to be placed at the end of the list.
In the footer you can place hirerarchy menu without dropdowns. And small rule: do not use dropdowns in the footer menu. It looks strange and is unusable. There you can set links for secondary pages like "Terms of usage", "Private police", "Delivery" etc.
The sidebar menu are better for showing categories of some part of site. For instance, "Sience fiction" at the section "Books". Also, there can be long lists of last and the most popular publics. And any links which you want.
Good programmed search by user's phrase functionality with relevant results are one of the part of good navigation. Among the small (but not an unimportant) details are tags system, breadcrumbs, icons of the most popular actions.
Try to hide some elements of menu, it they count are more than 7 — user can not find needed page at the moment. However, if there list of --odinakovo--- important categories, leave all of them.
Caching
There is technically part of UX. It describing in one phrase "User have not to enter data twice".
There are rarely cases but it happen with actively users of the service. It is the situation when user wrote message, accidentally close the browser tab. When he reopened the tab he want to see his inputed data. Default, data clearing. User are sad. Not always he will be write data the second time. So, I have to write mechanisms which will be save entered data (as texts, as photos).
It is also applies to saving the interests — information what posts user read and what subjects are interest for him. Later, you will can give him more relevant sorting or articles selection.
Also, when user leave comment, you have to save unchanged data — like name and email. User dislike to write it twice. Yes, it is not important for sites with mandatory sign in mechanisms, but comments at blog is very popular case when you have to cache users data.
Many developers forgot about it, but UX caching is very nice user — it saves his nerves.
