There is a deep well of IT certification content here at CertMag.com, and each year it gets a little deeper. With new articles four days a week most weeks during the year, that's roughly 200 new articles every year. Some are articles previously published in Certification Magazine, but about three-quarters of what you get here on the website is original content.

No doubt there are some of you out there who read everything that shows up here. (Or at least we hope there's no doubt of that. And if you really are one of those hardcore CertMag readers, then gold star for you. We'd like to shake your hand and buy you a drink.) The average drop-in visitor, however, probably doesn't get even a real taste of everything that shows up here in a calendar year.

That's why recaps like this are so helpful. There's no need to wonder what you've missed: Other visitors to the site have already voted with their mouse clicks, and curated a list of the most compelling articles to appear on the site in 2017. We're going to do this in two installments, comprising the 20 most-read new articles of the year. Today we're bringing you the top of the list, our 10 most popular articles of 2017:

1) Salary Survey 2016: An all-new Salary Survey 75 "People are competitive by nature, and this is a relatively harmless way to compare yourself to the Other Guy and see whose certification is at least potentially more valuable." (by CertMag Staff)

2) Salary Survey 2016: The efficacy and impact of certification "You don't have to have a certification to work in IT. And not every worker who has a certification is inarguably better equipped to do his or her job than folks with no professional credentials." (by CertMag Staff)

3) Five top certifications to get you involved in wireless networking "Whether you are just starting a career in wireless networking or building on existing experience and skills, a certification is a great asset." (by Ahmed Badr)

4) Salary Survey Extra: Deep Focus on Pegasystems Certified System Architect (CSA) "Jobs are heavily clustered at low-end of the employment hierarchy, with 43 percent of respondents either rank-and-file employees (25 percent) or specialists (18.1 percent)." (by CertMag Staff)

5) Driving an effective cybersecurity apprentice program, Part 1 "Defining a successful project begins with identifying a need. The specific need is filling the existing shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals. " (by Steve Linthicum)

6) Salary Survey Extra: Deep Focus on RHCSA "The range of ages among RHCSAs skews heavily toward early adulthood, with 45.1 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34, and an additional 30 percent between the ages of 35 and 44." (by CertMag Staff)

7) Five reasons your employer should cover your IT certification costs "Employers who pay for ongoing IT training and certification can expect their staff to be more committed to their jobs, and more likely to stay with their employers for longer periods than uncertified workers." (by Aaron Axline)

8) Create your own certification program: Step-by-step instructions (Part 2 of 2) "Establishing certification exams that command a high level of respect from the marketplace is essential. It can take years to recover from a poorly written exam(.)" (by Peter Manijak)

9) Salary Survey Extra: Deep Focus on GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH) "The highest level of formal education attained by an overwhelming majority of GCIH holders is some sort of college degree, with more than half (52.5 percent) having risen to the level of a master's degree, while an additional 32.6 percent topped out at the bachelor's degree tier. " (by CertMag Staff)

10) Salary Survey PLUS: The income impact of Linux certification "So it's an impressive testament to the usability and reliability of Linux when questions arise like 'Can the Internet exist without Linux,' as expressed in the headline of 2015 article on ZDNet." (by CertMag Staff)

BONUS: What were the next-most popular articles of 2017? We figured that out as well.