13. A method in a computer system for locating items offered for purchase via an online store, the method comprising: providing a plurality of classifications of items offered for purchase via an online store, each item having terms describing the item; receiving a search query relating to an item to be located, the search query including one or more query terms; searching the terms describing the plurality of items to find items matching the search query; after finding the matching items, identifying classifications corresponding to each of the matching items; determining one or more classification names of the identified classifications that contain at least one of the one or more query terms; selecting as search results at least a subset of the identified classifications that contain items whose terms most closely match the received search query; obtaining, from an index, a set of entries for the classifications, each entry containing a collection of terms that appear in the name of a classification and the terms that appear in the items within said classification, each entry being associated with a priority based on a field in which said terms of the entry appear; and generating a page for displaying the search results and arranging the search results on the page in an order such that any classification containing at least one of the one or more query terms in the classification name of said classification is assigned higher priority on the page than classifications that contain the matching items but do not contain at least one of the one or more query terms in the classification name of the classification, wherein the index is used to arrange the identified classifications in said order and wherein arranging the identified classifications on the page in said order includes adjusting for the priority of the entries in the index.
13. A method in a computer system for locating items offered for purchase via an online store, the method comprising: providing a plurality of classifications of items offered for purchase via an online store, each item having terms describing the item; receiving a search query relating to an item to be located, the search query including one or more query terms; searching the terms describing the plurality of items to find items matching the search query; after finding the matching items, identifying classifications corresponding to each of the matching items; determining one or more classification names of the identified classifications that contain at least one of the one or more query terms; selecting as search results at least a subset of the identified classifications that contain items whose terms most closely match the received search query; obtaining, from an index, a set of entries for the classifications, each entry containing a collection of terms that appear in the name of a classification and the terms that appear in the items within said classification, each entry being associated with a priority based on a field in which said terms of the entry appear; and generating a page for displaying the search results and arranging the search results on the page in an order such that any classification containing at least one of the one or more query terms in the classification name of said classification is assigned higher priority on the page than classifications that contain the matching items but do not contain at least one of the one or more query terms in the classification name of the classification, wherein the index is used to arrange the identified classifications in said order and wherein arranging the identified classifications on the page in said order includes adjusting for the priority of the entries in the index. 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the classifications are hierarchical.