While many hosting providers provide free domains, I believe it is always better to buy your primary domain individually rather than tied to any hosting plan. That ways even if you have to switch your hosting provider anytime, you need not worry about the domain.
Sanjay offers advice on selecting an ideal web hosting service for your customized blog [hat tip: Kiran]. Although there are plenty of blog platforms available for free, there is nothing like owning your content, selecting & tweaking your theme, and then constantly fretting that it doesn’t vanish overnight (backup, backup, man!)
Update: Manu provides more pointers and factors that you should consider while selecting a hosting provider.
