There is a vast expanse of IT certification content here at CertMag.com, and each year it gets a little more far-flung. 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 2020. We're going to do this in three installments, comprising the 30 most-read new articles of the year.

Today we're bringing you the top of the list, our 10 most popular articles of 2020:

1) Salary Survey 2020: An all-new Salary Survey 75: "In Shakespeare's comedic romp The Merry Wives of Windsor, jealous husband Ford seeks to trip up boisterous schemer Falstaff by appealing to the old knight's greed, fortifying his pitch with the aphoristic observation that, 'If money go before, all ways do lie open.' " (by CertMag Staff)

2) Technology-focused certifications can help close the cybersecurity skills gap: "Certifications are also a great tool for enabling workers in other professions to add to their skillsets relatively quickly, providing opportunities to transition into careers in cybersecurity." (by Rob Rashotte)

3) IT certifications and changes in the landscape: "When we get to a point where the only application we will be using on my Chromebook is a browser, end point security returns us to something close to the dumb terminal.� In my opinion, that's a good thing." (by Steve Linthicum)

4) The six best U.S. states to look for IT work: "The cradle of tech ingenuity, California is America's premier technology state. From tech giants Facebook and Google to numerous startups, California is home to an incredibly diverse range of IT enterprises." (by Reena Ghosh)

5) Salary Survey 2020: IT certification loses some salary sizzle: "Sometimes you have to tune out the urgent clamor of life's problems and focus on small victories. Problems may be on the minds of many in IT given that, for the second year in a row (at least in the United States), salaries are trending sharply down." (by CertMag Staff)

6) The next five years of IT certification: "Microsoft and Cisco both recognize that the value of a given IT certification is largely determined by the industry recognition it receives. While the needs and desires of certification candidates are certainly part of the equation, feedback from IT employers is clearly the greater influence." (by Aaron Axline)

7) A first look at CompTIA's new Security+ exam (SY0-601): "One of the existing domains, Technologies and Tools, is being folded into the other domains, and the total number of domains will drop from six to five. At the same time, governance and compliance are being lumped in with risk, and a few tweaks are being applied to overall domain weighting(.)" (by Emmett Dulaney)

8) Get the most out of studying up for your next certification exam: "In the world of IT certification, in most cases, the test taker must pass a high-stakes exam, meaning the test is either proctored or observed. There are also performance-based exams where students submit their work, which is then reviewed by a panel with a set of criteria to judge by." (by Peter Manijak)

9) Online proctored testing may be the future of certification exams: "With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting all segments of society, including the closing down of IT certification testing centers around the globe, remote online proctored testing has stepped to the forefront in the IT certification world." (by Peter Manijak)

10) Salary Survey 2020: Certs attractive to employers, improve performance: "Certification can also make you more attractive to potential employers. More than 69 percent of survey respondents either agree (42.8 percent) or strongly agree (26.3 percent) that they've experienced greater demand for their skills since becoming certified." (by CertMag Staff)

KEEP GOING

2020 in Review: Most popular articles 11 through 20

2020 in Review: Most popular articles 21 through 30